Dolce&Gabbana By Man Re-Edition 1997: A Wild Return

Nearly three decades after its debut, Dolce&Gabbana brings back By Man. For some, it’s another fragrance revival. For me, it’s a rather personal journey back to the 1990s.

Editorial note: This article is based on official Dolce&Gabbana product information, published fragrance references and my personal memories of owning the original By Man and By Woman during the 1990s. I have not yet tested the Dolce&Gabbana By Man Re-Edition 1997. All expectations regarding its scent are based on its disclosed olfactory notes and should not be interpreted as a hands-on review.

There is something rather dangerous about fragrance nostalgia, especially when a perfume you once owned suddenly reappears almost thirty years later, looking remarkably familiar and practically demanding a place in your collection.

Dolce&Gabbana has apparently decided that my relationship with perfume was becoming far too peaceful, because By Man is back, complete with its unmistakable zebra pattern, unapologetic personality and a name that immediately transports me to another decade.

And this particular return feels personal.

During the 1990s, I owned both By Man and its feminine counterpart, By Woman. I remember their extraordinary animal-print packaging, those cylindrical bottles that looked like nothing else on the shelves, and, above all, their unusual olfactory personalities.

I couldn’t reconstruct their compositions note by note today, and I certainly wouldn’t pretend otherwise. What I remember is how distinctive they felt, how powerful their presence was, and how little they seemed interested in behaving like everyone else.

They belonged to a period when fragrances could be genuinely eccentric, sometimes excessive, and wonderfully unconcerned with pleasing absolutely everybody.

Looking at the new By Man Re-Edition 1997, I realize that I have missed that attitude more than I thought.

The 1990s Were Never Particularly Interested in Being Subtle

The original By Man was introduced in 1997, during a decade that produced some of the most recognizable fragrances in modern perfumery.

It was a fascinating period, marked by contrasting directions. On one side, there was the growing popularity of clean, transparent and aquatic compositions. On the other, perfumes continued to explore rich aromatics, spices, woods and sensual amber accords.

Dolce&Gabbana had already established a visual identity that embraced Mediterranean sensuality, theatricality and a rather magnificent disregard for restraint. Animal prints were not decorative accidents. They were part of the house’s vocabulary.

By Man embodied that attitude with remarkable confidence.

Its original cylindrical bottle, dressed in black-and-white zebra stripes, was accompanied by By Woman’s equally memorable animal-print presentation. Together, they created a striking visual statement that felt unmistakably Dolce&Gabbana.

I owned both, and although the precise details of their evolution on my skin have inevitably faded with time, I still associate them with fragrances that had real character.

Not necessarily easy fragrances. Not necessarily discreet ones.

And perhaps that is exactly why I remember them so fondly.

The new Re-Edition brings back those distinctive visual codes, although the packaging has been substantially reinterpreted. The cylindrical design I remember has given way to a more sculptural rectangular bottle, while the zebra motif remains gloriously present.

I must admit that the result is rather beautiful.

Apparently, my resistance to attractive perfume bottles remains as impressive as ever.

Dolce&Gabbana By Man Re-Edition 1997: The Fragrance

The new Dolce&Gabbana By Man Re-Edition 1997 Eau de Parfum belongs to the house’s Re-Edition Collection, a project dedicated to revisiting fragrances from its archives.

The composition is presented as an amber-spicy fragrance, with an aromatic heart and warm, woody foundations.

According to Fragrantica, the perfumer behind By Man is Alberto Morillas, whose work has contributed to some of the most recognisable creations in contemporary perfumery.

The published olfactory pyramid is structured around six principal notes.

Dolce&Gabbana By Man Re-edition 1997 Olfactory Pyramid

Top notes: Nutmeg, Black Pepper
Heart notes: Artemisia, Lavender
Base notes: Amber, Guaiac Wood

On paper, the combination is particularly intriguing.

Nutmeg and black pepper suggest a lively, dry and intensely spicy opening, while lavender and artemisia introduce a more aromatic, herbal dimension.

This is precisely the kind of contrast I tend to appreciate: freshness that doesn’t necessarily translate into something clean or conventional, but instead carries a slightly bitter, textured character.

The base brings together amber and guaiac wood, suggesting warmth, depth and a subtly smoky woody dimension.

Naturally, these are expectations based on the published notes rather than personal impressions of the new fragrance. I haven’t smelled this Re-Edition yet, and a perfume’s note pyramid can only reveal so much about how it actually behaves on skin.

Still, the combination sounds promising.

Almost suspiciously promising.

Is It Really the Same By Man?

This is probably the most interesting question surrounding the entire release.

The original By Man is commonly documented with nutmeg and pepper in its opening, lavender and artemisia at its heart, and a richer base featuring sandalwood, tobacco, leather, amber and guaiac wood.

The new Dolce&Gabbana By Man Re-edition 1997 retains several of those defining elements in its published pyramid, but tobacco, leather and sandalwood are no longer explicitly listed.

Does this mean that the fragrance has been dramatically reformulated?

Not necessarily.

Published fragrance pyramids are selective descriptions rather than complete formulas. The absence of a particular note doesn’t automatically mean that the corresponding olfactory impression has disappeared.

Nevertheless, the difference deserves attention.

Those darker materials contributed to the way the original was described, and their absence from the new official note structure raises an obvious question: is Dolce&Gabbana By Man Re-Edition 1997 intended to recreate the original experience as faithfully as possible, or reinterpret its identity for a contemporary audience?

For someone discovering By Man for the first time, this distinction may not matter very much.

For someone who actually wore it in the 1990s, it matters quite a bit.

And that is why I would rather wait until I have smelled the new composition before making any declarations about its faithfulness to the original.

Nostalgia is wonderful, but it is not a particularly reliable analytical instrument.

Especially when it comes packaged in zebra stripes.

The Bottle: A Little More Refined, Still Wonderfully Excessive

Visually, the new Dolce&Gabbana By Man Re-edition 1997 has retained one of its most memorable features.

The zebra pattern returns, wrapping the sculptural glass bottle in a striking black-and-white design. A black textile label embroidered in silver displays the fragrance’s name, while metallic details provide an elegant contrast to the graphic exterior.

The presentation is completed by a black velvet case, reinforcing the more luxurious positioning of the Re-Edition Collection.

It is unmistakably different from the cylindrical packaging I remember owning, yet the connection with the original remains immediately recognizable.

And I appreciate that Dolce&Gabbana hasn’t tried to make it look unnecessarily minimalist.

We already have enough perfume bottles pretending to be sophisticated laboratory equipment.

Sometimes a fragrance deserves to be a little theatrical.

Sometimes it deserves zebra stripes.

And sometimes, apparently, it deserves both.

A Return That Comes With a Price

There is, however, another aspect worth discussing.

On the official Italian brand’s website, Dolce&Gabbana By Man Re-Edition 1997 Eau de Parfum is listed at €330.

This positions the fragrance firmly within the luxury segment and makes the return considerably more expensive than a casual exercise in nostalgia.

The Re-Edition Collection clearly aims to present these historical creations as desirable luxury objects, with elaborate packaging and an emphasis on the house’s heritage.

Whether the fragrance itself justifies that positioning is another matter, and one that deserves to be evaluated through actual wear rather than marketing promises.

Personally, I find the idea of revisiting discontinued fragrances fascinating. The perfume industry has an enormous archive of compositions that deserve more attention, particularly those that captured a distinctive moment in olfactory history.

But I also believe that nostalgia should never exempt a fragrance from scrutiny.

At €330, memories alone are not enough.

Even very beautiful memories involving zebra stripes.

The Dolce&Gabbana Obsession Is Returning

There is something slightly ironic about this entire situation.

Lately, I have found myself increasingly interested in Dolce&Gabbana fragrances again. The house keeps finding ways to attract my attention, and the return of By Man is doing absolutely nothing to improve the situation.

Unlike many contemporary releases, however, this one carries a genuine emotional connection.

I remember owning the original. I remember its feminine counterpart. I remember those extraordinary bottles and the impression both fragrances left on me.

What I don’t know yet is whether the new By Man will recreate that experience.

Perhaps it will feel immediately familiar. Perhaps the years and the reformulation will have changed its personality. Or perhaps I will discover that what I remember most vividly is not the fragrance itself, but the period of my life in which I wore it.

All three possibilities are equally interesting.

And that is precisely why I want to smell it.

For now, Dolce&Gabbana By Man Re-Edition 1997 is one of the fragrance returns I am most curious about, not because I expect an exact reproduction of a perfume from my past, but because I want to discover what happens when that past meets the present.

The zebra is back.

Unfortunately, so is my obsession with Dolce&Gabbana.

And I have a rather unpleasant feeling that we all know how this story ends.

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