Two Days in New York City With Rabanne Invictus

The festivities kicked off with video and photo capture at Rabanne’s content suite at the New York Edition Hotel in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. 30 influencers, models, athletes, celebrities, and tastemakers gathered to be filmed over the course of a nine-hour shoot day.

Giacomo Cavalli, an Italian model and entrepreneur, who serves as the face of the Invictus Elixir campaign, is first in line.

“Strong, sensual, and energetic,” is how Cavalli describes the fragrance. “It has a powerful presence, an olfactory experience you will remember.”

You can catch me saying “olfactory” in my day-to-day life moving forward.

I’m given a tour of the shoot location, specifically the three different adjoining “stations.”

The first is designed to look like a weight room, complete with free weights, an exercise bench, a mirror, and plenty of Rabanne gym merch. I need that black duffle…

The second is a fútbol-style locker room, where talent find a personalized, name-inscribed, custom Rabanne kit waiting for them.

Finally, there’s a trophy room with various Invictus bottles — all shaped like trophies — lining the shelves.

The lights are dimmed and a mix of new and 2010s hip-hop blasts from the speakers. The vibes are immaculate, the space has a big-match feel.

I chop it up with KJ Dillard, a skateboarder, model, and musician. He was also the first-ever Black male cast member on Bravo’s Summer House, having joined this past season.

“I'm already someone where I need to smell good if I'm leaving the house. If I forget to put on cologne or deodorant, it's not a good day,” Dillard tells me. “It just affects everything. For me, cologne is an everyday thing, and Invictus Elixir smells amazing.”

Every bottle of Invictus Elixir represents victory, triumph, and the power of a champion. When I ask Dillard to share a defining victory in his life, he speaks about a mental hurdle he has overcome (and continues to overcome):

“Completing recovery is a huge victory of mine. Going through that process and just being able to come out on the other end and knowing that there's light at the end of the tunnel. You go through something dark, you can turn that into a positive.”

A music conversation ensues between me, Dillard, and Rabanne ambassador Cylus Sandoval, a self-described model and fitness polymath. Sandoval is from the Bay Area and shares his affinity for Mac Dre, E-40, and Kehlani. The convo turns to debate when we discuss Drake’s recent albums. Dillard shouts out the introspective, bar-heavy Iceman as his favorite. Sandoval prefers the more melancholic, R&B-infused Habiti. I’m with Sandoval.

Bruce Wheeler, the Senior Director of Education and Client Experience at Rabanne — I refer to him as the fragrance sommelier — educates me about the Invictus Elixir. He breaks down its three core ingredients: salted mineral accord, aromatic cypress, and vanilla caviar.

“The salted mineral is this really strong, bold, powerful, bracing opening that’s reminiscent of the power of the ocean,” he explains. “Then we have the heart, it opens up into this aromatic cypress, so you have this kind of cooling, almost pine quality, but it's not super overpowering. It's extremely aromatic, it's very masculine, very outdoorsy. It's wild, but it still has this kind of tamed nature to it.

“Then, what makes this scent a little bit more interesting is outside of the salt and aromatic qualities is the base facet of the vanilla caviar, which is this really rich, intimate, kind of more resiny quality, so it's the complete opposite of what these accords comprise. This smooths it out.”

Wheeler then gives me a history lesson about Paco Rabanne, the Spanish-born, French naturalized fashion designer who founded his namesake luxury fashion house. He studied architecture in school and worked in the field professionally for over a decade. Rabanne decided to follow his passions for design, infusing metal, plastic, and paper into clothing. In 1994, he released his first fragrance. Call me enlightened.

I also get a close look at the sleek, trophy-shaped vessels in which the Invictus Elixir is bottled. The glowing gold alludes to victory and triumph, while the steady fade to black towards the bottom honors the brand’s signature metallic codes.

The Rabanne ambassadors (and crew) arrive at the iconic Bernie’s Restaurant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Guests enjoy cocktail hour that features custom Rabanne "we are the champion" cocktails (with branded ice cubes) and a vibey set from DJ Sasha Crush. The restaurant serves its iconic double cheeseburger and personal brownie sundaes. It’s a dynamic duo I never knew I needed.

The night concludes with a trip to The Mulberry, an upscale cocktail bar on the border of SoHo and Nolita in lower Manhattan. Dancing and frivolity commence.

A Rabanne-branded smoothie truck is parked down the block from the Edition Hotel. It blends three different protein-infused smoothies called Victory, Legend, and Champion. I order Victory, which contains vanilla protein powder, skim milk, banana, and ice. A truly ideal (and refreshing) way to start a hot NYC spring day.

The Rabanne team finishes shooting content at the Edition with the remaining brand ambassadors. Kemal Karagozoglu (model and tennis player), Pepe Garcia (Love Island alum), and Alejandro Rosario (model and influencer) are among those left.

I enter a bus filled with 30 Rabanne models. Needless to say, I fit in seamlessly. It drives us to Pier 46 where they will participate in a special workout. I’m seated right behind my new buddy Dillard and we continue our hip-hop banter.

We arrive at Pier 46 and celebrity basketball trainer Chris Brickley — along with his team — are setting up cones and agility ladders across the turf. Meanwhile, Rabanne’s ambassadors break off into smaller groups and kick soccer balls around. The Hudson River and New Jersey skyline serve as an idealistic backdrop for the events.

The drills begin and I speak to Miles Chamley-Watson, a professional fencer who has represented the United States in three Olympic Games (most recently, Paris 2024).

“As a kid, I used to wear 1 Million,” he reveals. “So it’s nice to have that full-circle moment with Rabanne and Invictus Elixir. I actually really love how it smells. I have this weird thing, where I just always gotta smell good. It’s a massive confidence booster.”

Chamley-Watson, in the spirit of Invictus and winning, shares one of the defining victories in his life.

“After my first Olympics [in 2012], I met Kobe [Bryant] and he told me this quote which says ‘You have to have the shortest memory.’ A year later, I became the first American man to win a world championship. I have 8-9-13 tattooed in Hungarian on my arm, which is the day I won.”

Brickley lines up his new trainees for a basketball combine drill called the 3/4 court sprint. One-by-one, they take off down the field, running the distance of a baseline to the opposite free throw line.

Davison Igbinosun, a cornerback who was drafted by the Buffalo Bills a couple of months ago, posted the fastest time (3.57). For reference, the average for a pro basketball player (on hardwood) is 3.20.

The models compete in their final drill, the Pro Lane Agility Drill, another combine staple that involves short sprints, side shuffling, and back-peddling. I’m tempted to give it a go, but remember that I prefer my ACLs intact.

It’s group photo time! The brand ambassadors gather on the turf. Sandoval is handed a super-sized Invictus Elixir cologne bottle and hoists it above his head, which is met by cheers and excitement from everyone around him. It’s their championship moment.

I talk to Julien Brown, a runner and 1/5 of the Elevator Boys (a boy band based in Berlin, Germany).

“When I spray Invictus, I think of race day and it always hypes me up. That adrenaline rush like five minutes before the race starts.”

As for a defining victory, he discusses the importance of picking up daily wins.

“Running is the most honest sport. What you put in is what you get. There's no cheating. I set really high goals for myself, and they don’t happen overnight. To reach a sub-three [hour] three marathon, it's a lot of small victories along the way. I always count my mileage during the week, my bike rides, and it's like step by step by step by step.

“When I do 10% more mileage, for example, that's a victory for me.”

The group gets back onto the bus, making its next stop in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to take in the day’s big soccer game.

Over the course of two days, I heard several definitions of the word victory. For some, it was winning a world championship after failing a year prior. For others, it was navigating personal hardship or putting in a little more work than the day before.

Rabanne made the weekend a personal victory for me, as well. I was able to meet cool people, watch a historic soccer match, and write about the experience for Complex. Oh, and I found my new go-to cologne in the process, which you can purchase here.

Sometimes, the little wins go a long way.