PARIS — Indie musician and artist Moses Sumney has been named the ambassador of Million Gold Eau de Parfum Intense, the new masculine fragrance for Rabanne, due out in August.
Sumney — who is known for fearless self-expression — has had albums topping New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork, The Guardian and Rolling Stone critics’ lists.
He directed the live music film “Blackalachia” in 2021 and stars in the film “MaXXXine,” out this summer. On Friday, Sumney will release a new EP of songs, “Sophcore,” as well.
He first became familiar with Puig-owned Rabanne, which has a longstanding link with artists, from its advertisements.
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“The ads are so iconic,” he said. “I’ve had a list of things that I’ve wanted to do with my career — like a vision board — and Rabanne has been really high on that list for many years. So, getting to do this was weirdly a dream come true.”
Sumney was not a fragrance aficionado from a very young age. Earliest memories of perfume include the Avon lady.
“Or like putting on cologne in high school — like way too much cologne — trying to impress people and then being really embarrassed because I just smelled crazy,” he said.
“But what I think is so special about me working with Rabanne now is that it really shows that you can have an entry point into fragrance at any [time],” Sumney explained. “I am hoping that I can connect with a new audience of people — men, especially — who are like me, who may not be obsessed with fragrance when it comes from a branding perspective, but like to smell good and want to learn new things.”
He is partial to woody and musky scents, such as vetiver, oak or cinnamon bark, and is known to mix essential oils himself.
“What’s really cool about this fragrance is that there are a lot of notes in it that I already am obsessed with,” Sumney said, citing cardamom oil and amber as some examples.
Million Gold’s fragrance, created by Givaudan perfumers Christophe Raynaud and Quentin Bisch, also includes floral, sandalwood and mandarin notes.
“I like things that are earthy,” Sumney said. “I spend a lot of time in nature, in the forests.”
Following in the tradition of Rabanne’s original 1 Million fragrance, out in 2008, Million Gold comes in a bottle shaped like a gold ingot. That is decorated with the house’s XL link.
Sumney described Rabanne fragrances as classy, while also being cool and accessible.
His role in Million Gold’s campaign is clear.
“All of the things that I want art to impart are largely implicit in me being in this,” Sumney said. “Which is to say, it is really cool for me as an indie musician — essentially someone who’s a little bit left of center — to get to be a part of a campaign that’s this large. That’s really meaningful, and I do think that there ultimately is room for weirdos.”
He added, “Manifestation works. I very much feel like that’s how I ended up here. As a Black, dark-skinned man — my family is from Africa, I’m first-generation American — it’s really wonderful to be in a place where I can do something like this.”
Sumney doesn’t expect an ad to change the world.
“But I do think that it can gesture toward young people who look like me or come from where I’m from is incredibly important,” he said. “That’s what I want to impart — and also, it smells really good,” Sumney continued, referring to Million Gold, with a laugh. “That’s the most important thing here, by the way.”
Rabanne vice president Jérôme Leloup said Sumney “is bringing a lot of modernity to the way we display Million, a slightly more fluid type of masculinity. And, of course, he’s an amazing dancer and a singer.”
Million Gold launches Thursday in the U.S., Brazil and through Rabanne’s direct-to-consumer network, followed by Germany on Aug. 5 and the rest of the world between Aug. 15 and Sept. 1.
