Oscar Pistorius for Thierry Mugler A*Men Pure Shot

Fragrance marketing plays on romance, myth and imagination and a certain je ne sais quoi embodied in an A-list actor or model.

On that note, this season’s best casting award goes to Thierry Mugler and his just-launched A*Men Pure Shot, a fresh and invigorating men’s spritz, for his chosen male muse.

The ever-provocative Mugler chose paralympian-Olympian Oscar Pistorius to embody the A*Men’s “Pure energy in a bottle.”

Yes, it’s marketing speak, but Pistorius does inspire. The athlete, whose legs were amputated at the age of 11 months due to a birth defect, learned to walk with artificial limbs, which were later replaced by carbon-fibre blades.

And talk about the body and mind’s ability to compensate: Those high-tech legs allowed Pistorius to develop athletic excellence. He was an award winner at the 2004 Athens Paralympic games and his repeated world-class performances have won him the opportunity to take part in this summer’s Olympic Games in London.

The brilliance in Mugler’s choice of the sprinter is also that Pistorius personifies the almost-futuristic physique and fashion that the legendary designer is known for on the catwalk.

Oh, and back to the fragrance. A*Men Pure Shot is indeed energetic. Fresh with mint and juniper bay, white pepper, wood and patchouli, it is indeed a scent suited to a gym-going, modern-minded man—who knows how to move.

A*Men Pure Shot EDT, $94CAD (100 ml), www.thierrymugler.com, www.thebay.com

PHOTO OF OSCAR PISTORIUS: ©PEPE BOTELLA