Relaunching a classic fragrance is a gamble. Loyal customers are protective of the original, and a saturated fragrance market leaves room for error.
That hasn’t stopped Dolce Gabbana Beauty from taking the risk, though, betting on a second stroke of success 25 years later with its Light Blue franchise, which it reformulated for the first time and relaunched in May.
During a presentation last week on the Italian island of Capri, the Dolce Gabbana Beauty team shared details on the decision along with early performance signals. The goal was to better align with the modern customer’s needs: they want longer-lasting formulas, luxurious packaging and compelling brand storytelling. Gianluca Toniolo, D&G Beauty CEO, says that the relaunch rests on those three pillars: sleeker, improved packaging, new faces and a fresh formula.
First, the scent: Light Blue’s original perfumers, Olivier Cresp and Alberto Morillas, were tasked with reformulating the perfumes to last longer on the skin. They added notes of Sicilian lemon — known for its resilient scent — and a spicy base blend of cedarwood, rosemary and patchouli, extending wear time to 16 hours. Then, the bottle: D&G Beauty removed the plastic cap and silver elements to create a more elevated look and feel. “If you look at packaging today, bottles are less plastic and more glass. We needed to align with what the market is asking for, and now the bottle looks and feels more elegant,” Toniolo says.
Finally, the faces: actor Theo James and Italian model Vittoria Ceretti have been tapped as Light Blue’s latest ambassadors, replacing David Gandy and Bianca Balti. James and Ceretti were spotted filming their steamy first ad for the fragrance last summer, fulfilling the understanding that sex sells, especially in the age of the internet.
Toniolo says the brand couldn’t rest on its laurels with a two-decade-old fragrance: “We have to evolve, follow new customer trends, run faster than the market, all while staying true to the brand DNA and values: passion and creativity and leveraging our ‘Made in Italy’ roots.”
He says that, since the new version went on the market, Light Blue’s sales have increased 25 per cent. The goal for 2025 is for sales to rise 20 per cent year-on-year. Its success is crucial to D&G Beauty: Light Blue has sold between €3.5 billion and €4 billion worth of product at retail since its launch in 2001, accounting for 35 per cent of the overall D&G Beauty business. Since the Italian fashion label brought its beauty division back in-house in 2022, after reclaiming its license from beauty conglomerate Shiseido, it set out big growth plans to hit €4 billion in revenue by 2028.
Before the relaunch of Light Blue, D&G Beauty released a line of cosmetics in flashy, on-brand packaging, designed to reach younger customers in a crowded makeup market. It released a skincare line earlier this year, too. Both to the tune of €2.2 billion in retail sales so far, according to the brand; and in the last 12 months, D&G Beauty says it has grown 35 per cent both in total sales revenue and profit. Is it on track to hit that €4 billion mark? Toniolo says it will happen sooner, by 2027.
Focusing next on fragrance, D&G decided to bet on Light Blue rather than introduce a new scent. “To stay competitive, you also need to develop and evolve what’s already in your portfolio. Heritage, consumer familiarity and timeless appeal are already there — but with new faces and innovations, we can take the franchise further and bring new customers into the fold,” says Toniolo.
Brands like Dior, Creed, Chanel, Calvin Klein, YSL, Ghost and Givenchy have all successfully restaged bestselling classics over the years, refreshing them with updated packaging, new perfume notes, campaign faces and messaging, to connect with modern consumers and younger generations. These revivals offer a nostalgic-yet-reimagined experience that appeals to loyalists and first-timers, alike.
Still, the stakes remain high when restaging or expanding a fragrance classic. “The decision to relaunch a classic must be a careful one. Scents become classics because they’ve built a history of credibility and emotional connection with consumers,” Jean Madar, CEO and co-founder of Interparfums (fragrance licensee for brands like Oscar de la Renta, Roberto Cavalli, DKNY and Ferragamo), says. “When considering a relaunch, brands must preserve that connection, not dilute it, and make it feel fresh and relevant in the cultural conversation.” Previous success doesn’t always guarantee future sales, especially when risks are taken, including changing the scent formula and faces that have been synonymous with the perfume and brand for years.
In an exclusive interview, Toniolo elaborated on the brand’s big Light Blue bet, unpacking the relaunch strategy, the category expansion and the evolving D&G beauty customer.
Vogue: Consumers often have a personal attachment to the original fragrance. How do you innovate without alienating the core audience?
We knew we’d lose some of our core customers; it was part of the calculation. But the number of new consumers discovering and falling in love with Light Blue is greater than the ones we lost. That’s the trade-off. To maintain balance, we changed the bottle, the fragrance longevity and the talent, but we kept the Italian essence and Capri setting.
We also introduced an eau de parfum version, Capri in Love, featuring a Majolica-print bottle and created by perfumers Emilie Copperman and Alexandra Carlin for newer consumers who want a scent in the same family, but with more depth. It’s about meeting evolving preferences without abandoning the legacy.
Vogue: Why do brands sometimes get relaunches wrong, or see a muted consumer response?
One of the biggest mistakes is trying to copy what worked the first time around. Today’s customer is completely different than they were 10, 20 or 25 years ago. If we had relaunched Light Blue the same way again, we would have failed. How we communicate has changed; platforms, formats, and consumer behaviour. TikTok demands speed and punchiness; Instagram is more about visual storytelling. Twenty-five years ago, one master campaign was enough. Today, five assets can be consumed in 10 seconds. Brands must invest in a range of content and adapt to every platform. If you can’t keep up with market shifts, your relaunch will fall flat.
Vogue: This isn’t D&G Beauty’s first big launch this year — skincare debuted in April. Why?
Three reasons. First, I promised Domenico [Dolce] and Stefano [Gabbana] that this would become a three-axis brand. At the time, we had fragrance and makeup, and now we’ve added skincare. Second, makeup is the bridge between beauty and skin. Our makeup already includes skincare ingredients, but we needed a dedicated skincare line that felt true to the D&G world. We’re not a clinical brand, we’re about luxury and allure, and that spirit runs through our skincare just as it does in our fashion. Third, Asia-Pacific: skincare is the most valued category in that region. To become relevant in the consumer mindset, we needed a skincare offering. It was a strategic must to complete the 360-degree experience of D&G Beauty.
Vogue: You’ve spoken a lot about the D&G Beauty customer. Who are they today, and how have they evolved?
They’re experienced enough to recognise quality, but bold enough to try something new. They’re the ones wearing the D&G logo patches, experimenting with our latest makeup launches, but they also know the value of icons like Light Blue and Devotion. They understand the connection between our catwalk codes and our beauty universe.
Vogue: And finally, are you confident the Light Blue relaunch will be a long-term success?
Yes. Since the internalisation of the fragrance category, we have been able to elevate our portfolio, protecting our icons from being squeezed by too many commercial activities. The relaunch of Light Blue is going exactly in this direction, thanks to the fragrance’s improvement, a more qualitative primary packaging, new faces and a communication strategy that builds on a more dynamic campaign. I think thanks to this new mix, Light Blue will climb the worldwide fragrance ranking in a very short time frame, becoming one of the new icons in the category performance.
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