28 August 2024

The explorer spirit of Marco Polo in a perfume bottle! When searching for information about perfumes from Venice and landing on the website of the Venice Film Festival

If today you are looking for information about a perfume that pays tribute to an explorer with roots in Venice, from a label that has Venice in its name, and for its fragrances like one with the name Maria Callas (article), then sooner or later the Venice Film Festival will be linked to your search. Today, the 81st Venice Film Festival opens with films in competition such as 'Maria' starring Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas, 'Joker: Folie à deux' with Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, films out of competition like 'Wolfs' with Brad Pitt and George Clooney, or Tim Burton's 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' - last mentioned will premiere in a few hours. There are no Austrian productions or directors in these two categories. Except in the category 'Venice Classics' - a selection of restored films - Fashion.at found one director of Austrian origin, Fritz Lang, with his film 'The Big Heat', a police action drama from 1953. While reviewing the line-up on https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/lineup, Fashion.at has made its own list of favorites, even in categories that do not receive a special award at the Venice Film Festival: the movie with the most anticipated soundtrack is most likely 'Joker', which - according to several sources online - will feature mainly cover songs by various artists. It's expected that the music will play an important role in expressing the relationship between Harley Quinn and Joker. One of the expected songs that will be covered is 'That's Entertainment!' from the 1953 musical 'The Band Wagon'.

But back to the perfume information Fashion.at was looking for. The Merchant of Venice received this year's 'Artistic Independent Award' at Austria's most important perfume award 'Duftstars' (article). Recently, The Merchant of Venice released press information about a new fragrance that will be available in Austrian stores from September 1st. It's called 'Moscado' - translated musk. Moscado is a tribute to the historical ties between Venice and Asia, particularly through the legacy of Marco Polo. Celebrating the 770th anniversary of Polo's birth and the 700th anniversary of his death, the fragrance honors his role in introducing musk to Venice. Polo encountered musk during his travels along the Silk Road and described it as a precious and potent scent derived from the Himalayan musk deer. This exotic fragrance became an integral part of Venetian perfumery, and Venetian "muschieri" perfumers were renowned for their skill. Musk, prized for its intensity and longevity, was a key element in Venice's trade and cultural exchange with the East. Fashion.at hasn't tried the perfume yet. Check out the olfactory pyramid of mostly synthetically produced scents at https://www.themerchantofvenice.com/en/venezia-oriente-/332-moscado-edp-100-ml.html. However, Marco Polo's spirit of exploration has already taken effect: Fashion.at explored the Venice Film Festival!