Ahhh 1994, the year when Friends hit the small screen, Pulp Fiction ruled the big screen and the Beastie Boys proliferated the grunge movement with Sabotage. It was a year of beginnings, endings and collaboration. The Biebs and Styles were born, Jackie O and Kurt Cobain passed, and Nancy Kerrigan cried: “Why me,” while the rest of the world sang along to the number one Billboard hit: Ace of Base, The Sign.
The year’s biggest sign however, was change. After three centuries of oppression Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first black president and with the click of a mouse, Amazon and Yahoo altered the way we communicate and shop by jumping aboard the new, world wide web. Last but not least, in an industry renowned for launching over 1620 perfumes each year, a simple-looking bottle filled with a citrus-smelling eau called CK One forever impacted the way we wear scent, in just one spritz.
Advertised as a fragrance for men and women, CK One’s cool, clean and refreshing eau was groundbreaking and had everyone—both genders, alike—sprinting to department stores for more. In it’s gritty, grainy, black and white, television commercial filled with androgynous couples alternately making out or thrashing about, Kate Moss deemed it: the only one. Now, 22 years later and with double-digit incarnations baring variations of the CK One name, the American fashion house has revamped its original acronym’ed juice to create a new, separate and equally appealing fragrance: CK2.
Progressive, provocative and gender-free, CK2 claims to be the liquid embodiment of life, diversity and connection. Its inclusive, urban and woody fresh fragrance is replete with universally pleasing notes of: spicy wasabi and incense, tangy mandarin and vetiver, earthy violet leaf, wet cobblestones and orris concrete, and sensual rose and sandalwood. The bottle, a futuristic-looking, clear glass test tube of sorts captures it all, complete with the notion that CK2 embraces minimalism, evolution and acceptance. And while the cylinder flacon may be placed and viewed right side up or upside down, compliments of its clear base and the wearer’s perspective, its tagline and hashtag makes it’s purpose perfectly clear: CK2 is a new scent for #the2ofus. What remains to be discovered is how you define the statement. And of course, how it impacts 2016.
CK2 EDT fragrance comes in 100 ml for $67. It’s available at Hudson’s Bay, Sephora, Shoppers Drug Mart and Sears stores across Canada.
