C‘it’s a place, a city, a perfume. Rome is never just a backdrop. It is a starting point, a return home, an idea of eternal beauty. Laura Biagiotti, who has made a manifesto of this light, has always considered perfume as a garment of the soul, something that accompanies, supports, tells. Today his legacy lives on through fragrances that renew that dialogue between classicism and modernity, and through women who carry forward this tale with contemporary grace. One of them is Caterina Balivo, protagonist of the “Muse di Roma” campaign and ambassador of the Roma and Roma Fiori Bianchi fragrances, witness to a bond that spans years, fashion shows and emotions.
ROME: the icon that marked a generation
QuanSince Rome was born in 1988, the maison does not just create a perfume. Opens a story. It unites East and West, tradition and modernity, elegance and strength. It is an oriental fragrance with a rich soul: bitter orange, thyme, lemon, red fruits and blackcurrants open a luminous score. The softness of tuberose, lavandin, Roman chamomile, gentian and orange blossom enters the heart. The base is warmer and more enveloping, with sandalwood, myrrh, Peruvian balsam, benzoin and vanilla.
Its bottle, a faceted Roman column, is a direct bridge to classicism. It is not a simple aesthetic reference: it recalls the solidity of the city from which it takes its name. Laura Biagiotti said that Rome had given her origin, inspiration and success. This is also why he wanted to restore beauty, supporting the restoration of the Cordonata del Campidoglio and the fountains of Piazza Farnese. A gesture that underlines how much the city is part of the maison’s DNA.
Roma has become a classic of contemporary perfumery because it combines intensity and poetry, without losing its identity. It is a perfume that is not afraid of time and that, just like the city, continues to renew itself. A true icon.
ROME WHITE FLOWERS: the light that falls on history
Caterina Balivo. Photo by Fabio Ionà
Roma Fiori Bianchi was born in 2023 and takes us back to the origins of the brand. It pays homage to Fiori Bianchi, the first perfume created by Laura Biagiotti in 1982, and at the same time reinterprets Rome in a modern key. It is a declaration of spontaneous, fresh, luminous femininity.
The nose Nathalie Lorson he says he “dressed Rome in white flowers”. It starts from the spikenard accord, one of the oldest essential oils from Roman times, and inserts it into a delicate but charismatic construction. The opening combines the liveliness of Italian bergamot with the pure sweetness of the Firgood pear, extracted with a natural technology that preserves the quality of the fruit. In the heart appear violet, jasmine, gardenia and a touch of white almond which brings an elegant balance. The base is softer, with tonka bean, Australian sandalwood and Romandolide, a musk molecule that gives clean persistence.
The bottle takes the column shape of the original, but becomes transparent, like crystal. It leaves a glimpse of a pale pink jus. The packaging plays with white and pink, evoking that philosophy of “Biagiotti White” which is not just a color, but a way of interpreting the present with lightness and harmony.
Roma Fiori Bianchi celebrates today’s woman: romantic and independent, cosmopolitan and rooted, capable of using tradition as a starting point. A fragrance that captures the idea of eternity.
Caterina Balivo: portrait of a contemporary muse
Caterina Balivo Photo by Fabio Ionà
Sometimes a chance encounter becomes a story destined to last. For Caterina Balivo, the bond with Laura Biagiotti began when she was just nineteen: she was chosen for a campaign Romephotographed in a white robe on the steps of the Capitoline Hill. A luminous image that, years later, the presenter remembers as if it were yesterday, describing herself as a girl full of dreams. Today she is ambassador of the Roma and Roma Fiori Bianchi fragrances and protagonist of the “Muse di Roma” campaign, set in Villa Parisi, among frescoes, warm light and impalpable clothes.
The collaboration with Lavinia Biagiotti was born naturally. Caterina fondly remembers the 2021 Roman Renaissance fashion show, organized after the most difficult period of the pandemic and set right on the Cordonata restored by the maison. It tells of a professional relationship made of esteem and a female story that has continued for generations.
Met one day in the eternal city, during the interview she talks to us about beauty as sincerity, as the ability to recognize oneself even when energies change. She talks about her daily life with simplicity: the live broadcast on Rai Uno, the gym in the morning, Pilates with her friends, the almost military organization of her commitments. She adds a detail that makes her close to many women: every three weeks she treats herself to a facial massage, her only true beauty vice, a small break that also improves her mood.
We cannot help but ask her how Rome represents her.
“First of all it was a lucky charm: it is a true memory in a bottle of me as a girl, full of dreams. Today I like to think that it represents the light, or rather, the brightness of my character. I am always Neapolitan in spirit, although Roman by adoption. And then, I believe that it expresses a concept of femininity similar to me. Classic but never banal, dynamic, in step with changing times, even difficult ones, but always with grace. I have tried all the Biagiotti fragrances, from the classic Roma, sensual and spicy, but also Roma Fiori Bianchi, fresher and sparkling, which I love in spring. They are always very elegant trails, as well as beautiful tributes to the strength of women.” Caterina Balivo tells us, smiling when she compares the column of the bottle to her own evolution: over the years, she says, it feels more and more solid.
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