For L’Oréal, which holds the fragrance license for Ralph Lauren, the launch of the genderless fragrance Polo Earth represents a “new way of working,” according to Alex Choueiri, global brand president of Ralph Lauren Fragrances.

Sustainability For Real

“It’s the first product where we pushed sustainability, and as much as we could, we focused on every element of the mix to make it as sustainable as possible,” Choueiri said. ““The fragrance industry has this habit of putting a lot of glass to make a product look luxurious and beautiful, but if we’re really serious about wanting to minimize the environmental impact, it should be as light as possible without breaking. The heat to create a bottle has a carbon footprint, and you want to minimize that.”

As a result, the refillable bottle housing Polo Earth is 30 percent lighter than Ralph Lauren Fragrance’s traditional bottles, and is made with 20 percent post-consumer recycled glass. No cellophane, which is made of plastic, is used to ship the product. The package itself is made from 55 percent recycled materials.

According to a corporate statement, the Polo Earth packaging and shipping materials are in line with Ralph Lauren’s commitment to create 100 percent recyclable, reusable or sustainably sourced packaging by 2025.

97% Natural Origin Ingredients

Polo Earth is 97 percent natural origin ingredients, including plant-based, naturally-derived alcohol. It is also vegan, and the carton, label and wooden cap are all FSC-certified.

David Lauren, chief branding and innovation officer at Ralph Lauren reminds customers and media both that the company isn’t new to sustainability initiatives. “We launched the Earth Polo years ago, which kicked off an entire program and division inside of our company dedicated to sustainability,”

Scent Beyond Genders

Do the ingredients of Polo Earth excite male-identifying people as much as female-identifying? For AOC, the list is intoxicating. The list include top notes of bergamot, Italian green mandarin and diva lavender from France; middle notes of Turkish rose and sage heart; and base notes of Haitian vetiver and bourbon geranium from Madagascar.

It all began with CK One in the 90s — a staggeringly successful fragrance that has been shaking up the perfume industry ever since. Timed to launch in concert with the new Polo Earth Fragrance, the Calvin Klein X Palace April mega drop includes the first-ever remix of the classic CK One fragrance.

Christian Dior famously said, “A woman’s perfume tells more about her than her handwriting.” In today’s fragrance marketplace, the societal constructs of women’s fragrance and men’s fragrances are increasingly out of date. According to Mintel, gender-neutral fragrance launches accounted for 17% of the market in 2010; by 2018 that figure had grown to 51%,

Gender-identity is front and center in America’s politics and in countries like Poland, where large numbers of voters seek to restore traditional lines of female and male gender identity. The concept of gender fluidity among young people only stimulates the desire for genderless fragrance.

Polo Earth and The Arbor Day Foundation

The Arbor Day Foundation is partnering with Ralph Lauren Fragrances to plant one tree for every 100ml or 200ml bottle purchased of their new POLO EARTH EAU DE TOILETTE fragrance. The Arbor Day foundation was formed in 1972, 100 years after the first Arbor Day in 1872.

To kick off this partnership, volunteers from the Foundation, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, and the community will plant 30 trees at a POLO EARTH launch event in Brooklyn, New York. Following the product’s release, additional donations through the POLO EARTH campaign will support reforestation efforts in forests of need in the United States and around the world.

“Ralph Lauren is helping to redefine the role a lifestyle brand can play in promoting positive ecological change,” said Dan Lambe, Chief Executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “We are proud to work alongside them as they engage their customers in environmental action and leverage their storied brand to help build a better tomorrow. Our planets most pressing issues can only be solved if organizations of all types and sizes step up and take action.”

For the past 50 years, the Arbor Day Foundation has worked to plant nearly 500 million trees around the world in coordination with over one million members. You can follow the Arbor Day Foundation on Instagram, where we note that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is planting 6 million trees by 2023.

To celebrate the launch of POLO EARTH, a dedicated pop up is open in Nolita, NYC from April 7 – 27 at 247 Elizabeth Street.

In a sign of what’s ahead, David Lauren said: ““Polo Earth is the latest iteration of the revolutionary work we are doing within the sustainability arena and is only the start of where we can go when it comes to creating consciously designed fragrances.”

Polo Earth is available now in bottle sizes from 10 ml to 200 ml, with prices ranging from $30 to $152. The drop is accompanied by hand and body lotion, body wash and a scented candle made with Fair for Life shea butter all scented with the fragrance.