L.I.L.Y. by Stella McCartney

Tomboy-chic: That’s often how I think of Stella McCartney’s design signature. Not that she can’t cut a mean cocktail dress as well as the best of today’s runway stars, but it’s her trousers and her body-flattering yet covered-up tailoring that borrow from menswear to make a woman look chic and neat—and good-in-your-skin sexy.

Not unlike McCartney’s new perfume. Launched this spring, L.I.LY., so named for her father’s nickname for her mother (translation: “Linda, I love you”), is a fragrance that is both undeniably feminine and also subtly masculine, with its cologne-like notes and aromatic character.

As counterpoint to the L.I.L.Y.’s defining lily of the valley note, McCartney layers in grassy oakmoss and earthy white truffle. The latter adds an animalistic essence while staying true to the staunch vegetarian’s emotional and political heart.

We love the scent because it manages to be both romantic yet modern, pretty yet wearable, its sparkling yet geometrical flacon also winking at both sides of the gender divide.
–Deborah Fulsang

Stella McCartney L.I.L.Y EDP, $90CAD (50 ml), www.stellamccartney.com, www.holtrenfrew.com, www.thebay.com, www.sears.ca, www.shoppersdrugmart.ca, www.sephora.ca