Henry Jacques: Love match with Rafael Nadal and Maria Perello

Haute parfumerie Henry Jacques joins forces with tennis champion Rafael Nadal and his wife Maria Perello for a first-of-its-kind collection

In a first for the esteemed parfumerie as well as the tennis superstar and his wife, Henry Jacques, Rafael Nadal and Maria Perello have come together to bring to life a unique fragrance collection. “In All Intimacy” comprises three scents – Maria Perello, Rafael Nadal No 1 and Rafael Nadal No 2 – that exemplify the Spanish couple’s distinctive personalities.

The collection represents the first time that Henry Jacques has partnered with a celebrity, the first time Nadal has collaborated with a perfume house, and the first time Nadal and Perello have joined forces on such a project.

“Meeting and spending time with Maria and Rafael to create their perfumes was a true pleasure and the beginning of a new chapter that the three of us wish to last,” says Anne-Lise Cremona, CEO of Henry Jacques. “Our encounter was about sharing emotions with great mutual trust, and above all a desire to share a beautiful story and reflection of life that could be inspiring for many. And that is what perfume is all about.”

“In All Intimacy” is also the first time Henry Jacques, which started and still operates in part as a bespoke house, is making its personalised offerings available for all. For Maria Perello, the trio selected notes of violet and orange blossom highlighted by bergamot and jasmine, then enhanced by sandalwood and white musk to reflect its namesake’s refinement, elegance and strong resolve as seen in her work with the Nadal Foundation.

“For me, it is important for my perfume to become part of my identity, to be recognisable and to perfectly match my personality,” Perello says. “I envisioned this fragrance as a sense of security, self-confidence, uniqueness, strength and completeness. I really wanted it to smell like elegance, and more importantly, happiness.”

For Nadal, who enjoys a special relationship with fragrances as part of his daily life and rituals, Henry Jacques helped him to develop two unique creations. While both take inspiration from his strong connection with the Mediterranean, Rafael Nadal No 1 is a lighter scent for when he’s in character playing tennis and Rafael Nadal No 2 is for his more personal and private moments.

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“It is difficult to imagine my life without the Mediterranean Sea,” says the Mallorca native and 14-time French Open champion. “I love its scent, the citrus, the freshness. To me, there is nothing like the scent of the earth after the rain, when the sun sets.”

This relationship with water, nature and earth is reflected in the combination of specific notes in Rafael Nadal No 1 that leads to an essence subtly balanced with coriander, thyme, violet, lavender, lemon and artemisia – a plant from the Mediterranean basin – complemented by an alliance of cedar wood, leather and sandalwood. Rafael Nadal No 2, meanwhile, is poetically linked with that of Perello through bergamot, jasmine flower, lilac, rose and white musk; notes of citrus, freesia and sandalwood complete the link.

“In All Intimacy” is available in Hong Kong at the Henry Jacques boutique at Elements. All three scents are available in a 75ml Brume, with Maria Perello also available in a 15ml Essence.

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