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Tom Ford has added a tobacco and chocolate fragrance to its Private Blend collection, out in August. Giorgio Armani is pushing into men’s fragrance with I Will, a woody vanilla scent four years in development. Mugler has made its first move into handbags, introducing a debut leather goods collection by creative director Miguel Castro Freitas through a campaign photographed by Chris Lensz.
Tobacco Chocolat joins Tom Ford’s Private Blend collection, expanding the brand’s long-running exploration of tobacco blended with rich gourmand notes, a direction established by Tobacco Vanille. The fragrance is built around what Tom Ford calls a cocoa smoke accord, produced by co-distilling roasted tobacco leaves alongside dark chocolate. That accord sits at the centre of the composition, joined by chocolat noir grand cru and cocoa butter absolute. Tobacco leaf absolute introduces a dry, aromatic character that lives up to the fragrance’s name. A patchouli-heavy base laced with Ambrofix and Peru balsam gives it weight and a resinous finish. Orange essence cuts through with some citrus lift. Fragrantica has classified the scent as an Oriental Vanilla fragrance for both women and men, continuing the shared-scent format Tom Ford has used across much of the Private Blend range.
Perfumer Daniela Andrier developed the fragrance, continuing her long-running work with the house. It arrives on the heels of Ombré Leather Reserve, which launched in late July. Early reporting suggests the fragrance will likely come in 30 ml and 50 ml Eau de Parfum, with other sizes possible once the August launch is confirmed. Full pricing has not yet been announced, and Tom Ford has not said which markets will receive the fragrance first or how availability will be staggered.lerfumer
Armani’s I Will has an unusually long development story for a designer fragrance. Perfumers Alberto Morillas and Nathalie Lorson spent four years and reportedly 2,800 trials on the formula, a figure that has circulated across retailer listings and early trade coverage of the launch. The opening is built on bergamot, softened by lavender accords and violet leaf. From there it moves into a bourbon-vanilla heart, wrapped in a smoky-wood-leather note that anchors the scent’s masculine framing. Cardamom threads through the base, adding spice to keep the vanilla from tipping into sweetness.
The fragrance will come in 10 ml, 60 ml, and 100 ml Eau de Parfum. Armani’s marketing frames the launch around endurance and personal will rather than luck, the central line running through the campaign copy. I Will has already begun appearing at US retailers including Macy’s and Mall of America, listed in 2oz and 3.3oz bottles ahead of a wider rollout. Armani has not disclosed a UK launch date beyond confirming the fragrance is coming soon.
Mugler’s move into handbags has been building since Castro Freitas joined the house. Photographer Chris Lensz shot bodybuilder Tatiana Horslaville in black and white for the debut campaign, referencing classical portraiture and nineteenth-century sculpture studies alongside the visual language of Robert Mapplethorpe and Helmut Newton. Horslaville poses nude in several images, her physique echoing the sharp lines of the bag she’s photographed with. Horslaville has said the shoot followed years of competitive bodybuilding, work she credits with opening opportunities like the Mugler collaboration.
Two styles make up the launch. The Aurora, named after Castro Freitas’s mother, comes in black, taupe, and a python-effect leather and nods directly to an archival Mugler bag Helmut Newton photographed for the house’s Spring 2002 collection. It retails between $1,900 and $2,000 in the US. The Aurora is made without real fur or exotic skins, in keeping with a policy Mugler has maintained across its accessories business. The Lua, whose name comes from the Portuguese word for moon, has a crescent shape and comes in black and faux python, priced between $2,200 and $2,300. A larger version, the Lua City, retails at $3,200. Aurora and Lua are finished with identical gold monolith hardware, featuring a bespoke clasp created by Castro Freitas exclusively for the debut range.
Both styles first appeared on the runway during Castro Freitas’s debut Spring/Summer 2026 collection last October, so the retail rollout has been in motion for close to a year. The bags are manufactured in Italy, with US prices running from $1,900 for the smallest Aurora up to $3,200 for the Lua City. UK stockists and pricing have not yet been confirmed. Castro Freitas has described handbags as among the most intimate objects a person owns, something that becomes an extension of the body and carries memory over time. He has said the Aurora and Lua were designed to honour Mugler’s leather goods heritage while bringing his own sculptural, sensual approach to the category.
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