How Creed Millésime Impérial became a summer fragrance icon
Trends in fragrance are dissipating faster than ever. But Creed’s iconic Millésime Impérial has remained our sun-dappled go-to for three decades
By 
A PROMINENT FIXTURE in the Sydney Creed store, the golden bottle that contains the brand’s renowned Millésime Impérial scent sits on top of a pyramid-like display. It’s a proud placement for a striking bottle. But its perch isn’t simply to hold it up as the brand’s most popular unisex fragrance. Like the gold-and-silver capstones that once sat atop the pyramids, this golden bottle absorbs light from every angle, reflecting the sunbeams that hit its shiny surface. A memorable first impression, indeed.
Though it’s a vessel that catches the eyes of passersby, it’s what lies within the Millésime Impérial bottle that makes it special. For it’s a fragrance that evolves with you throughout the day. Apply it in the morning, and top notes of fruit and sea salt will feel as fresh on the skin as biting into a watermelon does on the palate. Come noon, as the Sicilian lemon, Florentine iris and bergamot set in, you’ll be transported to warmer, Mediterranean climes. Hours later, the sweetness remains while drawing on softer sandalwood and cedarwood, until the musk withdraws with the setting sun.
Since the scent was released in 1995, trends in men’s fragrance have shifted according to the barometer of masculinity. Metrosexuals of the aughts favoured overwhelmingly citric scents or the nautically abrasive; leather in the 2010s was treated fetishistically. And in the social media age, trends in olfactory rise and subside like the surf. Rare constancy is exemplified by what Creed has been able to capture with Millésime Impérial: a slow burn of iodised sweet fruit into rich wooden musk. Because when you’re drawing a connection to the sun, you’ll be reaching for the brightest bottle. And is there anything more timeless than gold?
Creed Millésime Impérial
This story appears in the March/April 2025 issue of Esquire Australia with the title “Bottled sunlight”, on sale now. Find out where to buy the issue here.
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