CK One

1994 didn't have many unisex fragrances worth remembering, and CK One is the reason the entire category exists in its current form. Lemon, green notes, bergamot, mandarin orange, pineapple, cardamom and papaya open this Eau de Toilette in a citrus-fruit rush unlike almost anything else on shelves at the time. Lily-of-the-valley, jasmine, violet, rose, nutmeg, freesia and orris root fill the heart, floral but kept deliberately light. A green accord, musk, cedar, green tea, sandalwood, oakmoss and amber build the base, clean rather than heavy. This CK One Eau de Toilette is classed as fresh citrus aromatic, CK One remains built for daytime, for anyone who wants a fragrance that skips gendered marketing entirely. The green tea note tucked into that base was a distinctly novel inclusion for 1994, years before green tea became a fragrance-industry cliché, and it's part of why the drydown still smells relevant rather than dated despite the fragrance's age. Three decades on, its influence shows up in nearly every unisex launch that followed, whether or not the brand gets credited, and the plain glass bottle with its utilitarian label remains as recognizable now as the juice inside it, a design choice that has aged into its own kind of minimalist icon.