A long running dispute involving the Ralph Lauren Polo brand moves into the fragrance arena as the US Polo Association prepares to launch a perfume collection.
The governing body of the sport in the US has been at loggerheads with the fashion house since 1984 when it first attempted to expand a trademark licensing program throughout the US.
— From Dispute continues over Polo fragrance at Cosmetics Design.
Ralph Lauren has announced that Argentine polo player Nacho Figueras, already the face of Polo Black, will also front Polo Blue and Polo Modern Reserve. See one of the new print ads below the jump, but first, here is his work for Polo Black:
When I heard that Ralph Lauren was going to launch a new perfume in a jewel-studded bottle for some $2000+, I thought: why not — every other brand is jumping on the luxe bandwagon despite these tough economic times, why not Ralph Lauren? A week or so after I first heard about it, I spied a tester of something I didn't recognize hiding behind the tissue box on a Neiman Marcus perfume counter (always peek around the back, you never know what you'll find) and asked what it was. The sales associate told me it was to be the new Ralph Lauren, that it wouldn't launch until later in the year, and that it would be very expensive. She let me spray some on a card. I sniffed, giggled at the audacity of charging so very much for such a thing, and then promptly forgot all about it — easy enough, since Love, Ralph Lauren is not a particularly memorable fragrance.
Later, I realized that it wasn't really so expensive, or at least, it needn't be…
The Ralph Lauren Polo fragrance is 30 years old this year, so don’t complain about how popular it was in your high school years or we’ll all start calculating your age. Polo Modern Reserve, a new, ‘updated’ edition of the 1978 Polo fragrance, was created to: 1) celebrate Polo’s birthday (it is an accomplishment to make it to age 30 in the crazy, fickle world of perfume) and 2) appeal to original Polo wearers’ male offspring — men between the ages of 25-30. Polo is still one of the top 15 men’s fragrances in the U.S.* so WHY imply it’s “dated” and for ‘old’ guys?
Polo contains artemisia, basil, bergamot, chamomile, cumin, juniper berry, geranium, carnation, jasmine, ‘pine needle,’ rose, thyme, tobacco, amber, cedar, leather, musk, moss, patchouli and frankincense. That list of WHAM! BAM! POW! ingredients does not read (or smell) “old” to me; Polo is vibrant and interesting and blows most mainstream, and niche, male fragrances out of the eau (de Toilette).
Polo Modern Reserve takes Polo’s formula, erases the tingly, bursting-with-life green notes, replaces chamomile with cardamom, tobacco with vetiver-leather, juniper berries with pimento berries, and frankincense with myrrh incense…
Ralph Lauren has launched Romance Always Yours, a new flanker to 1998's Romance fragrance for women:
Celebrate falling in love. Introducing Ralph Lauren Romance Always Yours—the essence of eternal romance. Envelop yourself in this sophisticated floral chypre, touched with notes of the iconic sun goddess rose and sensual musk…