TOCCA | From a World of Dresses to Fragrances of Women and Places

TOCCA. An official photograph of Eau de Parfum Florence 50mL, set in an imagined interior inspired by the house's embroidery heritage and ivory, antique blush and old-gold aesthetic.

fragrance is a personal ritual

— Gordon Finkelstein

From embroidered dresses to fluted perfume bottles, TOCCA has extended an interest in beautiful things to their textures and their place in daily life. Established in New York in 1994, the clothing label expanded into beauty in 1997. Today its fragrances portray women, while its home scents evoke destinations.

Its beginnings brought together stylist Marie-Anne Oudejans, photographer Edoardo Mantelli and Gordon Finkelstein, whose responsibilities encompassed business and product-making. Their different disciplines helped shape a world that grew beyond clothes to encompass fragrance on the skin and scent in a room.

At a glance

  • Founded: 1994, New York, United States
  • Founding figures: Marie-Anne Oudejans, Edoardo Mantelli and Gordon Finkelstein
  • Name: Italian for touch, reflecting an interest in embroidery and textured fabrics
  • TOCCA BEAUTY: launched in 1997
  • Eau de parfum expansion: 2006
  • Principal categories: eau de parfum, scented body products, candles and reed diffusers
  • Official website: TOCCA Beauty

The founders and the making of TOCCA

A stylist’s picture of life beyond clothes

Dutch-born Oudejans worked in Paris as a fashion assistant and stylist. Jane Mayle, who later founded her own label, met her while modelling there and worked as her assistant for about a year.

Mayle remembered a designer whose background was styling rather than formal fashion training, and whose picture of the life surrounding a brand guided her decisions:

a very, very clear vision about the lifestyle around a brand

— Jane Mayle

A turning point came at a New Year’s party on the Caribbean island of St Lucia in 1994. Four resort dresses Oudejans had made caught the attention of Italian photographer and businessman Edoardo Mantelli and his friends. TOCCA subsequently began in a small apartment in New York’s garment district.

Beautiful design at an approachable price

Finkelstein worked in his father’s Montreal trading company, then moved to New York in 1990 for an MBA at New York University. TOCCA began during his studies. His ambition was to make:

beautifully designed products that were approachable in price point

— Gordon Finkelstein

The embroidered, richly textured dresses brought Southern European romance and a resort sensibility into a New York collection. The name TOCCA, Italian for touch, expressed that interest in the feel of fabric.

Oudejans’s remit extended beyond clothing, from store concepts to directing the masked ball at New York’s Armory that launched TOCCA Beauty. Clothes belonged within a larger experience of spaces and occasions.

From beauty in 1997 to candles and eau de parfum

TOCCA BEAUTY began in 1997 with products including solid perfume and a wash for delicate clothes. Fragrance became something to accompany a traveller’s wardrobe and daily routines.

Finkelstein’s role expanded into product development and production. Introductions brought the team into collaboration with Givaudan; blue-box candles encouraged the beauty business. Eau de parfums followed in 2006, and Finkelstein later bought out his partners.

The founders’ roles changed along the way. Oudejans left TOCCA in 1998 and later moved into interiors in India. Separately, Onward Kashiyama’s acquisition of Japanese trademark rights and transfer of operations from 2010 explicitly excluded TOCCA BEAUTY.

What shapes the brand

Women’s names as fragrant characters

The eau de parfums portray feminine archetypes, from mythic figures to modern muses. A name introduces a personality rather than simply identifying a perfume material.

Florence portrays a Parisian woman, combining bright bergamot and pear with a floral heart led by gardenia. Laila takes the Italian idea of piacere, pleasure, as its subject, moving from citrus into vanilla, soft flowers and amber.

Both belong to the women’s-name collection, but their emphasis differs: a bright white-floral character in one, warmer sweetness in the other. Following how each personality is expressed through materials gives the names a practical connection to the fragrances themselves.

Touch, from label paper to glass

TOCCA’s perfume bottles combine fluted Italian glass with hand-finished caps. Its interest in touch also reaches the labels.

A case study by label producer Multi-Color Corporation describes the request for consistent textured paper and colour across different vessels, including glass and plastic. The supplier tested papers for their intended environments and measured colour variation.

Consistent, high-quality printing is paramount as we grow our brand globally.

— Gordon Finkelstein

Perfume, cream and home fragrance differ in shape and use. Texture and print help them feel part of the same family. The tactile interest first associated with embroidered clothing continues in objects held in the hand.

Different moments, on skin and at home

The perfumes extend into other forms. Florence in the Olio Sublime Profumato collection is a scented dry body oil with oils including jojoba and argan. TOCCA suggests wearing it alone, including after a shower, or pairing it with eau de parfum.

Describing the relationship between eau de parfum, body oils and home fragrance, Finkelstein said they:

speak to different moments in one’s fragrance beauty ritual.

— Gordon Finkelstein

Classica candles and reed diffusers take destinations around the world as their subjects. The personal fragrances offer a character to wear; the home collection brings a suggestion of place into a room. TOCCA’s world, which began with clothing, now extends across what is worn and the spaces in which daily life unfolds.

References