The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Les Monstres de Nina Ricci, the name itself is the concept. 'Les Monstres' translates the house's beloved Nina and Luna characters into something stranger, more mischievous. Where the 2006 Nina played innocent, this version plays back. Launched in 2018 as a limited collaboration, the bottle was reimagined by Brazilian artists Ana Strumpf and Guto Requena, bringing a playful, graphic energy to the apple-shaped silhouette that has defined the franchise for over a decade. Olivier Cresp built the composition around the original's DNA, blackcurrant, pear, cotton candy, but pushed everything further. Sweeter. Richer. More layered. The ambroxan and tonka bean base adds a depth the 2006 version never had, making this a true reimagining rather than a simple repackage.
What makes this composition work is the ambroxan. It's not a note you expect in a sweet-fruity fragrance, more common in skin-focused or marine compositions, but here it does something crucial: it turns cotton candy's stickiness into something that feels like skin warmth rather than confection. The tonka bean extends the sweetness without adding weight, creating a drydown that lingers close to the body for hours. Cotton candy is the heart of this fragrance, but ambroxan is its backbone.
The evolution
The opening is immediate: blackcurrant and pear collide in a tart-sweet burst that reads almost candy-like. Within the first thirty minutes, the cotton candy asserts itself, sticky, sweet, unmistakably playful. The peony arrives quietly, adding a powdery floral layer that keeps the composition from tipping fully into gourmand territory. Then the base takes over. Ambroxan emerges as something close to skin, warm, slightly salty, intimate. Tonka bean follows, extending the sweetness into a drydown that doesn't smell like a room. It smells like the warmth of someone close.
Cultural impact
The Les Monstres collection marked a deliberate artistic statement within the Nina Ricci fragrance franchise, using a collaboration with Brazilian artists to reframe the house's most beloved characters. For a house known primarily for romantic elegance, introducing 'monsters' was a playful subversion, a reminder that femininity has more than one register.
The House
Nina RicciNina Ricci is a Parisian fashion house founded in 1932 by Italian-born designer Maria "Nina" Ricci and her son Robert Ricci. The house began as a couture salon on Rue Haussmann, quickly establishing a reputation for refined, feminine gowns with romantic sensibility. Robert established an in-house perfume division in 1941, though the first fragrance would not arrive until 1946. That inaugural scent, Coeur Joie, marked the beginning of a partnership with Lalique that would define the house's olfactory identity. The house introduced its most celebrated fragrance, L'Air du Temps, in 1948, a scent that remains in production decades later. Puig acquired Nina Ricci in 1998, bringing the house under the same ownership that manages Carolina Herrera and Jean Paul Gaultier. Today, the fragrance collection spans from timeless classics to contemporary offerings like the Nina line, maintaining the house's commitment to feminine elegance.
The Creator
Olivier CrespCresp's signature style often features a blend of fresh, clean notes with warm, comforting accords. He's known for his masterful use of fruit notes, particularly fig and berries, which he often combines with florals and musks to create scents that are both inviting and sophist…
