Moschino. Fun, lighthearted, sassy, and now more than ever, a very kitschy fashion house. And thanks to new (ish) creative director, fashion designer Jeremy Scott, kitsch has been extended to fragrance. Scott has taken the dullest everyday object and put something surprisingly fragrant inside. A playful irony.
Moschino Fresh Couture
The first fragrance by Moschino under Jeremy Scott’s direction was Toy back in 2014. It was fragrance hidden in a teddy bear and in all honestly, I missed out on that one completely. I only heard of it later, after I got my hands on Toy 2 (which I will write about later). This second one, Moschino Fresh Couture, was inspired by the spring 2016 Moschino fashion collection, which came out much earlier, as fashion collections do.
According to Mr. Scott:
The concept for this fragrance was to juxtapose the most mundane and commonplace of all products, the household cleaner, with something so precious – the juice of a luxury brand’s fragrance. Taking the iconography of a bottle that has no aspirational value and using it as the inspiration for a vessel to contain something so luxurious and haute couture, creates the ultimate dichotomy of high and low. What could be more Moschino than that?
When this fragrance hit the market, I admit I scoffed. “So this is how desperate we are for new ideas?” is what I thought. However, you can’t deny that the marketing is FRESH and fun and different. Supermodel Linda Evangelista was bought back from retirement (at least I assume she’s retired) for the campaign. If there’s anyone that can make Windex or Pine Sol or whatever detergent this is supposed to emulate – and cleaning in general – look glamourous, it’s her. The fragrance is available as 30, 50 and 100 ml Eau de Toilette bottle sizes. I have both the original and the pink versions in 30 ml sizes. Sadly, you cannot spray from the tops – they are purely decorative caps, but the spray underneath the cap works just fine.
As the name would indicate, this blue liquid is a crisp and fresh fragrance, and the retail price is not too high. But then, as a fresh fragrance you can’t expect a lot of longevity, sillage, or projection. I’m neither a fan of kitschiness nor fresh fragrances, so I knew I was unlikely going to be impressed by this. The fragrance did meet my expectations, but again, the packaging is fun and original. The juice inside, less so.
- mandarin, bergamot, ylang-ylang,
- raspberry, peony, osmanthus,
- woody notes, patchouli, ambroxan
Fresh Couture was created by perfumer Alberto Morillas and it’s an abstract, modern, musky-floral scent. It’s expectedly clean and fresh and does have a slight touch of luxe as one might infer from the term “couture.” The main notes are not particularly easy to identify; you just get a vague impression of flowers, musk, and fruit. The top notes are sparkly yet moist, and appropriately sharp like detergent. The core is watery and green, and the base is a cool musk warmed up a pinch by the woody notes. Overall, it’s not a sexy scent, but it is conceptually very cohesive, and is indeed a piece of rather brilliant marketing. I am 100% certain that many people bought it just for the bottle, regardless of the juice inside. Mind, I suppose that there are also some that would never give it a chance because of the bottle as well.
Alberto Morillas, by the way, has a huge portfolio with many famous hits, like Calvin Klein One, Esté Lauder Pleasures, Gucci Bloom, Acqua di Gio, and so, so many more. He’s the nose behind many Bvlgari scents, including a BLV Notte pour Homme fragrance I currently own and rather like.
Pink Fresh Couture
Alberto’s pink version came out in 2017. At least I think it’s the same perfumer. I could be wrong. Obviously the first version was a hit, so @let’s capitalize on the success of the first with a flanker!” Indeed, this is basically a juicier, rosier, fruiter take on the original.
- pink grapefruit, black currant, lily-of-the-valley,
- rose, pomegranate, pink hyacinth,
- musk, cedar, ambroxan
This one is unsurprisingly pink-smelling, put not in a sickly-sweet way; it’s still very fresh, bright, and bubbly. The pink quality comes from the grapefruit and pomegranate. The citrus keeps it in line with zingy cleaning detergent and the pomegranate donates a charitable aqueous feel, making the fragrance almost drinkable. The pink edition of Fresh Couture basically switches out the vague white floral segments in the original for a softer, dewy and cool rose accord. It’s pretty, light and fun, and it’s a good thing that the abroxan is still there at the base to lift up and strengthen the concoction. If you like the idea of a pretty, wearable, fresh rose laced with citrus, spritzed from a playful bottle, this one’s for you!
Speaking just about the juice contained within each of these zany, fanciful bottles, to me, these fragrances are pleasant for the most part, but largely forgettable. I say that not just because freshies aren’t my favourite. But rest assured, summer is coming and I will quickly empty my wee bottles.
There is a third fragrance in the household cleaner collection that I chose not to purchase (two was enough) called Gold Fresh Couture. It looked to me to be the most luxe and most divergent, so perhaps I should have bought it after all. It looks to be less fresh, and perhaps with something ambery. In fact, it’s a warm, floral oriental with peach compote and florals including jasmine and lily of the valley, served up in a cocktail garnished with lots of heady citrus spritz and a dollop of cream.
If you want to smell pretty, fresh and clean, love the packaging, and don’t want to break the bank, sure, I’d recommend the first two I wrote about above. But you won’t smell particularly unique, and you’ll likely want to haul these around in your bag, too, as you’ll need to respray just an hour or two later. The cap might get annoying in your bag, too, but hey – nothing is more alluring than the impression of pulling out from your bag in public a bottle of cleaning detergent and then proceeding to douse your person in it!