STYLE
UNDER THE ITALIAN SUN LUXURIATING IN THE PLEASURES OF LIFE By Lori Simmons Zelenko
or the designing duo behind the Eau d’Italie fragrance collection, lightning, you could say, struck as they sat on the terrace of their family hotel, Le Sirenuse Positano, one of the most glorious resorts in the world. It’s a location John Steinbeck felt was “a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.” The dream, however, nearly became a nightmare after 9/11. Facing a canceled silver anniversary gala with a worldwide coterie of A-listers held in abeyance, what to do? How to bring Le Sirenuse to guests who couldn’t be there to celebrate? Gathered on their terrace, surrounded by the essence of nearby lemon groves, the earthen scent of sun-warmed terracotta tiles, and the alluring freshness of bountiful blossoms all embraced by sea-salted air the idea came to them like love at first sight: Create a fragrance to invite their dear friends to experience Le Sirenuse every day, wherever in the world they might be. The answer was clear for this designing duo: Marina Sersale, a documentary filmmaker, whose family began Le Sirenuse in their summer home, an 18thcentury palazzo overlooking the glistening blue bay of Positano, and her husband Sebastián Alvarez Murena, an esteemed journalist from Argentina, conceptualized a fragrance story to share their love of Italy and in particular, the Amalfi Coast. Their first scent, Eau d’Italie, was introduced 20 years ago, a bergamot-rich parfum that, like any successful siren, seduces both men and women. No wonder David Bowie became the scent’s biggest fan. 20 | OUR CITY, YOUR LIFE | FEBRUARY 2021
Le Sirenuse
