Zadig & Voltaire turns the volume up: first look at Zadig L'Intense

If you thought Zadig & Voltaire would coast on last year’s launch, think again. The house has released Zadig L'Intense, a new flanker to 2025’s Zadig for women, and the name alone tells you the brief. Louder, closer, more nocturnal. I slipped the announcement into my morning coffee routine and immediately pictured a black knit with a lipstick print on the collar. That kind of energy.

Let’s set expectations. This is not a reinvention of the wheel, it is a recalibration. The original Zadig for women sketched the outline. Zadig L'Intense colors it in, presumably with thicker strokes and less daylight between the lines. If the first was a day-to-night transition, this feels like night-to-later-night. You know the moment you decide to stay for one more song, then two. That.

The brand’s DNA has always flirted with Parisian grit, and a flanker called L'Intense is basically a promise to press closer to the pulse. I expect denser texture, a heavier trail, something that catches on cashmere and refuses to let go. If you live for that first cold-air exhale when a perfume blooms from your scarf, this one is aiming for you.

What I’ll be watching for when I test:

• How Zadig L'Intense relates to Zadig for women on skin, not just on paper. Does it deepen the core or simply amplify the volume
• The balance between sweetness and edge. Intense can mean syrupy, but it can also mean shadowy and dry
• Projection and wear time. If you promise intensity, you need stamina, not a sugar rush

Early verdict without the spritz: I like the attitude. No coyness, no polite smile. A clear signal that Zadig & Voltaire wants a seat in the club of fashion-house flankers that actually earn their names. If Zadig for women is your current grab-and-go, Zadig L'Intense might be the one you reach for when the calendar says “show up.”

I will update with real wear notes once I can get it on skin. For now, consider this your nudge to sniff with an open mind and a black jacket nearby. Intensity should have texture, not just volume. Let’s see if Zadig L'Intense delivers.