PASS THE SALT: Ruslan Baginskiy is throwing his hat into a new ring: fragrance.
The Ukrainian milliner on Thursday will launch his first perfume, a unisex scent titled “Grain de Sel,” which means “grain of salt” in French.
Its name hearkens back to Baginskiy’s “best hours on excursions at the Black Sea and in Crimea” while studying geography in university, he told WWD. “It was a time that inspired me to dig deeper, to observe, and it’s a skill I have kept with me throughout my life. It’s where I feel inspired, and it’s where the magic happens for me.”
Also playing on the idea of salt as a near-invisible addition that brings out flavor, its inspiration nods to how the milliner approached his brand.
“For 10 years, my dream has been to create my own unique style and visual language,” he said. “And now I feel that this world is ready for another dimension – its own scent.”
The milliner, who launched his hat brand in 2015, won the ANDAM accessories prize in 2023.
His designs, which include the bestselling baker boy cap and a fun hat-bag hybrid, have been spotted on the likes of Madonna, Rihanna, Janelle Monàe and the Hadid sisters and in various episodes of hit shows like Netflix’s “Emily in Paris” and HBO’s “The White Lotus.”
He also created custom hats for Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s “Renaissance” and “Cowboy Carter” tours, and pieces presented to members of the British royal family, including the late Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Camilla and Catherine, Princess of Wales.
In addition to headgear and jewelry, the brand made an initial foray into the scented world in 2024 with a candle also named Grain de Sel, a smell of sun-warmed fruits eaten by the sea, which came in colorful handblown glass vessels.
Revisiting the idea of salt, in keeping with his idea that fragrance is “the missing piece…something that adds the finishing touch to the RB world,” the juice has head notes of ripe pear and apple, a heart of lily-of-the-valley and violet that dries down into a warm base of woody myrrh, labdanum, musk and tonka bean.
Blended and bottled with a perfume specialist in Kharkiv, a city in the northeast of Ukraine, “Grain de Sel” will retail for 160 euros and bow on the brand’s e-commerce site on Thursday.
