Roberto Cavalli bets on the serpent once more - this time in a bottle

The serpent has long coiled itself around the DNA of Roberto Cavalli: a symbol of danger, temptation and luxury that teeters somewhere between myth and nightclub glamour. Now, the Italian fashion house has bottled the motif - quite literally - in its latest fragrance, Serpentine.

The perfume arrives in a weighty white flacon encircled by a golden snake that, in true Cavalli fashion, does double duty. For those opting for the 100ml size, the serpent slips free to become a bracelet - part jewel, part brand loyalty badge. The cap gleams in gold, the whole thing pitched somewhere between objet d’art and dressing-table theatre.

Inside, the scent has been devised by perfumers Gino Percontino, Ralf Schwieger and Patricia Choux, who describe it as “opulent yet sensual, a golden second skin.” The formula is built on a familiar architecture of spice, fruit and florals: bergamot and blackcurrant in the opening, jasmine sambac and magnolia at its heart, before settling into a plush base of vanilla, patchouli and what the brand calls a “Second-Skin Accord.” In practice, it is designed to linger, to draw attention - Cavalli has never been about understatement.

The accompanying campaign, photographed by Luigi & Iango, stars Natasha Poly reclining in shades of bronze and shadow, a snake wound across her wrist. It is a visual shorthand for everything Cavalli has traded on since its founding in 1970: sultry excess, Mediterranean heat, and the sense that glamour ought to come with a faint hiss.