Dolce&Gabbana By Woman Re-Edition 1997: The Leopard Returns

By Woman Re-Edition 1997 brings back a Dolce&Gabbana perfume I used to own. The original came in a leopard-print cylinder, and what I remember most clearly is the power and character of the scent inside.

The By Woman I remember

I owned both By Woman and By Man, the one with the zebra print. Both had those cylindrical bottles that were easy to spot, even among a shelf full of perfumes. The leopard print was the first thing I recognised when I saw the new campaign. Then I remembered how distinctive the original By Woman smelled. It was intense, and it had a presence I could tell apart from the other perfumes I wore.

If you asked me to list its notes from memory, I’d have to guess. What I can remember is the impression it left. Even after all these years, seeing the name again makes me want to smell it, in much the same way that seeing the old bottle makes me remember owning it. That’s the part of this release that feels personal to me.

By Woman Re-Edition 1997 and the new leopard-print bottle

Dolce&Gabbana dates the original to 1997 and brought it back in 2026 as an Eau de Parfum. It returns alongside By Man in the Re-Edition Collection, which the house began with Sicily and Masculine. Put the two 2026 bottles side by side and the original pairing is still obvious. There’s leopard for By Woman and zebra for By Man. Dolce&Gabbana’s Re-Edition Collection.

The new By Woman has a rectangular glass body and a round cap with gold-toned trim. I like that the cap keeps a little of the silhouette I remember. The flat front changes how the leopard print reads, especially around the black fabric label. The name and the year are embroidered in gold, a detail that’s easier to see in the close-up than in the campaign shot. Dolce&Gabbana product page.

The notes, from freesia to coffee

Dolce&Gabbana describes By Woman Re-Edition 1997 as a woody floral. The opening pairs bergamot with freesia. Tiger lily and jasmine make up the floral heart, while coffee and sandalwood sit in the base. In the campaign image, an orange lily and scattered coffee beans give those two notes almost equal billing. In the brand’s description, they belong to different stages of the perfume.

That distinction is what makes me curious about the coffee. The picture suggests something dark and immediate, but the note list puts bergamot and freesia first. I’d like to find out how early the coffee makes itself known and whether I can still pick out the lily when it does. Sandalwood gives me another reason to wait for the drydown. I want to see whether the coffee remains easy to identify at that point or becomes part of the overall warmth.

What I’ll look for when I wear it

I’m most interested in how recognisable the perfume feels once the opening has settled. A bright first spray could be lovely on its own. The moment I’ll pay most attention to comes later, when the flowers have had time to develop and the base starts to come through. That’s where I’d hope to recognise something of the strong personality I remember.

I also want to give it a few hours on skin. When I say the original was powerful, I’m describing what I remember from wearing it. With this bottle, I want to see how much of its character is still there by the end of the day, and which part of the composition is responsible for it. If I can pick out that interplay of flowers and coffee later on, that alone will give me something to come back to.

Discover more new fragrance releases, from brand-new creations to re-editions of perfumes worth revisiting, in the New Releases section.