MILAN — It looks like Acqua di Parma’s list of good resolutions for 2026 includes indulging in a little celebrity moment.
In an unexpected move for the discreet, “iykyk” beauty brand that has never relied on known faces in its communication, the Italian company has tapped Academy Awards nominee Michael Fassbender and “The White Lotus” star Sabrina Impacciatore to front a special campaign marking its 110th anniversary.
To be released on Tuesday, the images photographed by Brett Lloyd and the short videos by British director Talia Collis feature the two actors in sunny Parma, the Italian town the brand hails from.
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Dubbed “The Art of Living Italian,” the campaign intends to celebrate the joy in ordinary moments, human connections and slow living, inviting an international audience to partake in the local approach to life.
“We wanted to emphasize the fact that not only Italians or those who live in Italy can embrace this philosophy,” said Acqua di Parma’s chief executive officer Giulio Bergamaschi about the concept. “It’s not a matter of geography but of values, of bringing attention to what matters and what makes a difference… And oftentimes those are the small, everyday things. Details matter and are a source of pleasure for us.”
The executive highlighted the goal was to offer “a campaign of cultural narrative” rather than solely focused on product and that tapping well-known faces will remain an exception.
“Having celebrities is not part of our recipe for selling products. It’s neither part of our background nor our future,” said Bergamaschi. “But for this cultural narrative and to show the universality of the message, we picked two people who perfectly fit with this message.”
“In an increasingly noisy world, creativity is key — that is, being original and unexpected, but always staying within a framework that’s consistent with your values,” he continued. “We will never betray who we are to follow the hype, but it’s important to always find an original, unexpected language to accurately express your values.”
The company aimed to amplify the surprise factor with an “unlikely pairing,” as Bergamaschi put it. He defined Fassbender as “one of the greatest actors of his generation, an icon of timeless elegance, charisma and discretion, who has never done a beauty campaign before” and praised Impacciatore for embodying “Italian authenticity and lightheartedness.”
In the campaign, the former moves through the streets of Parma led by a sense of discovery, while the latter balances his energy with her signature irony and warmth. The short video groups six different scenes centered on daily smalls rituals and simple gestures, from Fassbender cycling through Parma to taking a morning coffee — or better, an “espresso, with the S,” as Impacciatore underscores in her voiceover.
“Here lunch isn’t just a break. It’s an event, where a conversation can last much longer than the meal,” she points in another scene where the protagonists lunch alfresco, before delivering her closing line: “It’s not about being Italian. It’s about caring for what matters. And in doing so, living well becomes an art.”
Bergamaschi underscored that “the ability to combine craftsmanship and creativity, refinement and simplicity, and finding beauty in the ordinary moments resonate not only with our values but more and more universally. In such a fast-paced world… there’s a need to rediscover a human dimension and slow living.”
So much so that the brand is trickling the approach to its product. The campaign will spotlight a special reinterpretation of the hallmark Colonia fragrance that kick-started Acqua di Parma’s history in 1916, when Baron Carlo Magnani, in search of a different scent, commissioned a perfume artisan in the Italian town to create a new cologne. Offered in an Art Deco glass bottle, the scent rose to popularity in the 1930s and gained international success in the ’50s, when bespoke tailors used to spritz the fragrance on made-to-measure suits before handing them to their high-end clientele, including Hollywood actors of the time.
Named “Colonia Il Profumo Millesimato,” the new version is a limited-edition scent created by perfumer Alexis Dadier and crafted from the 2024 harvest of Ylang-Ylang White from Nosy Be, cultivated in the Madagascan island’s tropical climate, picked by hand and distilled over 24 hours.
Launching on Tuesday at Acqua di Parma’s stores and selectively worldwide, the fragrance is priced at 265 euros for the 100-ml glass bottle. This comes in the label’s distinctive yellow hatbox, featuring a golden medal stamp commemorating the 2024 harvest and the 110th anniversary for the occasion.
Further building on its lifestyle ambitions, the company will flank the fragrance with new additions to its “Art of Living” collection of objects. These encompass the Via Con Me Scent to Go, a multifunctional leather holder with a perfumable ceramic stone that doubles as a wireless earbuds case; the Tazza Totem and Cappuccino Cup Holder designed for candles; the Buonanotte candle snuffer and the Zic wick trimmer, among others.
Through the years, leather goods and creative collaborations with local artisans and acclaimed designers — from India Mahdavi to Cristina Celestino — have increasingly expanded the scope of the brand, adding to its rich fragrance assortment that includes the likes of the Signatures of the Sun line and the popular range Blu Mediterraneo evoking the atmosphere of Italy’s coastal towns through local ingredients.
The company’s legacy and evolution will be retraced in an exhibition bowing in September to further mark the anniversary celebrations. The show will debut in Parma with an event, before traveling the world in 2027, revealed Bergamaschi.
In the meanwhile, the company will continue its retail rollout. In March, it will open its third store in Italy in Florence’s central Via degli Strozzi 28, opposite the store of fellow LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-controlled brand Louis Vuitton. The 290-square-foot unit will reprise the interior concept designer Dorothée Meilichzon most recently developed for the retail come gallery space that Acqua di Parma opened last year in Paris’ Rue Saint-Honoré and that added to its 30 boutiques worldwide.
The Florence store will be followed by another international opening in the second half of the year, but Bergamaschi kept details on the location under wraps. “There will be new doors but they all have to be right and have a strategic reason to be, rather than following the logic of geographic expansion per se,” said Bergamaschi, adding that over the past year the company also embarked on revamping its existing outposts to respect the new design developed with Meilichzon.