Luxury gets out of the way. It isn’t heavy, or heady, or distracting. It is clean and quiet. It isn’t of the moment; it is timeless. And it is utterly confident in its own charms, in its own ability to beguile.
Acqua di Parma is luxury distilled: the products are clean, the lettering functional, the palette so simply “right” that it looks almost accidental, a default hue that was never changed. Acqua di Parma is found in all the best penthouse suites across the world, enclaves of privilege signposted by the presence of a bottle. Acqua di Parma eschews flamboyant bells and whistles: an Italian brand in the vein of Prada rather than Versace.
It is, indeed, a thoroughly Italian brand. Despite the international appeal of the products, each one is created in Italy and the brand story is a paradigm of enduring luxury. The first scent was concocted in 1916 on a tiny scale in the small Italian village of Parma, before catching the noses of Hollywood, achieving a unique aesthetic (the most notable, iconic bottle remains true to the original art deco design) and more recently, investment by the megalithic LMVH. Each coup has been achieved without sacrificing the integrity or quality of the product: indeed, each step has simply reinforced the prosaic beauty of the brand whether through new collections (the Blu Mediterraneo range, and a selection of leather pieces being two of the most popular) or new sites, like the recently opened Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Spa at the Gritti Palace in Venice. The space is the second of its kind: the first Acqua di Parma Blu Meditteraneo Spa opened in 2008 in Porto Cervo, Sardinia.
Like the brand, the spa doesn’t scream and shout. Reopened after an extensive renovation, the Venice space is elegant, relaxing and unassuming; while ornate takes a good photograph, in person it’s rather intimidating and hardly conducive to relaxing. The Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Spa at the Gritti Palace isn’t revolutionary: the palette is spare and the treatments understated. If you want piranhas nibbling your feet or chemicals injected into your open pores, this isn’t the place.
Facials involve gentle massage and the application of natural ingredients inspired by the Mediterranean. The one-hour Gentleman’s Grooming and Facial wouldn’t be sufficiently ostentatious for some Italian stallions: it’s a treatment “adapted to the gentleman who appreciates the simple pleasures”, involving facial and hand grooming, an hydrating mask and an eye cream. The two hour Toning Body Therapy involves a body scrub, body mask and some gentle massage to enhance lymphatic drainage. It’s certainly relaxing, but without the pressure of the cloying, excessive effort.