L.A. Confidential: Tom Ford Lavender Palm

by Ashleigh Tom Ford, whose name is synonymous with chic, American glamour, has recently opened his flagship store, Tom Ford Beverly Hills. Ford, designer and acclaimed movie producer; his directorial debut, A Single Man, put him on the Hollywood landscape and garnered a Golden Globe nomination for best original score and two Independent Spirit Awards- solidifies his love for the L.A. aesthetic with a new fragrance, Lavender Palm. The perfume copy says, Ford was inspired by, “all of my favorite things about Los Angeles- the sun, the architecture, the lingering decadence of old Hollywood.” The boutique features his first ever dedicated womenswear floor as the perfect launching pad for this sexy, exclusive scent. Opening with two types of lavender, Lavender Palm mingles the bright lavandin with old school lavender absolute to create a fragrance that is a modern version of a classic, unisex and somewhat straightforward fragrance. This scent is a departure in a sense from his hyper-sexualized clothing design paradigm where women are bold, sexy yet feminine and men, well they are unabashedly masculine. Other notes in this ménage include bergamot, lime blossom, vetiver and the somewhat haunting oleander- known for its toxic, fragrant beauty. Lavender Palm, available exclusively at Tom Ford Beverly Hills until September (and then it will be unleashed on the rest of us glamourophiles world-wide) comes in two collector-worthy shapes and sizes. Both the 50ml and 250ml are metallic and illusive, like the dazzling city of angels itself, but the larger version is clearly a nod to Ford’s love of architecture. For the $950 price tag, you can pretend you own a piece of the glittering L.A. skyline and the long-lasting scent that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality.