The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
The name says it all before you even spray. Never Forever, a fragrance that leans into the tension between the eternal and the fleeting, between wanting something to last and knowing it won't. Perfumer Olaf Larsen built this for John Richmond in 2023, working from the brand's rock-and-roll DNA but pushing into softer territory. The scent flirts with warmth instead of volume, with sweetness that gets under the skin rather than announcing itself across the room. That contradiction lives in every layer of the composition, creating something that feels both intimate and ephemeral at once. The caramel warmth mingles with softer floral touches, giving the fragrance a tender quality that lingers close to the skin.
What makes Never Forever structurally interesting is how the ambergris functions. In perfumery it often reads as a beast-mode signal, loud, animalic, immediately demanding. Here, Olaf Larsen uses it almost as a whisper, a warmth that holds the florals closer to the skin rather than projecting them outward. Combined with oakmoss, which provides a mossy, slightly bitter grounding that prevents the caramel from becoming dessert-sweet, the base creates a tension between warmth and restraint. The spices in the heart don't spike or shock, they diffuse, softening the jasmine and orange blossom into something that feels intimate rather than loud. It's a composition that rewards staying close.
The evolution
The opening hits quick: bitter orange and lemon cut through the caramel, giving the first minutes a bright, almost effervescent quality. The caramel doesn't read as confection, it's rounder, warmer, like sugar heated on a stovetop rather than candy. Within ten minutes the citrus softens and the jasmine-orange blossom heart emerges, wrapping around that caramel warmth like arms around a doorframe. The spices stay quiet, more atmospheric than structural. A slow, deepening warmth develops as the fragrance settles, moving closer to the skin and staying there. The drydown is intimate and close, the kind of scent you find on your wrist hours later and think, oh right, that one.
Cultural impact
Never Forever represents a shift from John Richmond's rock-and-roll signature aesthetic, moving toward a more refined and contemporary scent profile. The pairing of bitter orange with gourmand caramel notes breaks from simpler citrus-fresh compositions. The fragrance combines sharp citrus brightness with unapologetically sweet caramel, creating something that bridges traditional fragrance preferences and a more modern approach. It's a scent that balances classic elegance with contemporary sensibility, challenging what a fashion-brand fragrance can be.
