Dior Poison Girl flirts with a new generation

Dior’s new perfume, Dior Poison Girl, winks at its 80s perfume past with a spicy new spritz aimed at millennials

Earlier this year, in Paris, Dior kicked off the launch of its new Dior Poison Girl perfume with a star-studded, over the top, invite-only bash. If this seems a tad OTT for the classic French brand, that’s because Dior Poison Girl is aimed at attracting the millennial set—which isn’t necessarily the perfume brand’s existing consumer base. Models, actors, influencers and brand spokespeople mingled at the “Poison Club,” which was a night described by the brand as “an unforgettable party filled with urban dancers, fashion world clubbers, dressed up girls and dressed down dandies, all carried away by an ecstatic air of excitement tinged with the slightest touch of poison…” FOMO much?

If you paid attention to perfume in the 1980s (and if you were alive, how could you not?), then you know Dior Poison. It’s a fragrance that quickly became legendary. Easily identifiable, Dior Poison was right in step with the decade’s other larger-than-life spritzes such as Giorgio, Obsession and Opium.

Poison was spicy, fruity and woody, its powerful concoction a mix of plum, rose, cinnamon, incense, amber, musk and vanilla. Strong? Yes. But that was the point. Poison was statement-making.

The ubiquity of Poison is exactly why today’s young perfume wearers aren’t super into it. They’re looking for individuality and something a little less identifiable. Which is why Dior has decided to cater to this next generation with Dior Poison Girl Eau de Toilette.

Just like the original, Poison Girl is for the loud, proud woman. Whereas the Poison woman fought for professional autonomy as her expression of feminism—often choosing to convey strength in the form of aggressive masculine-inspired fashion and graphic primary-coloured beauty statements—Poison Girl is likewise looking for equality but isn’t afraid to wield her femininity for the cause.

Perfumer Francois Demachy says “Poison Girl makes the most of its effects. It’s a suggestive composition that retains its tender charm but also throws out cutting remarks.”

Translation? Poison Girl wants to crack the glass ceiling while being true to herself—and herself likes pink.

The scent

Perhaps it’s just the marketing material. It’s well-known that most women aren’t very enamoured with the scents their mothers wore—and many a millennial has a mother who loved Poison. So creating a new iteration of Poison for a new generation makes sense, beyond just a need for freshness.

And this scent is fresher. Off the top, there is citrus—sweet and bitter orange offers lightness where Poison was intense. Flowers round out the heart, familiar and feminine. And vanilla and tonka bean ground the base. This is warm and sweet but also substantial; it doesn’t just waft away.

So, does Dior succeed with its millennial marketing? The messaging is perhaps a tad heavy-handed—millennials are after all just people with varying tastes like everyone else. On the plus side, this is definitely a scent for someone who finds the original Poison a bit dated and intense, yet is looking for a fresh update and a way to connect with this quintessentially chic French brand.