Alexander McQueen- Kingdom Eau de Parfum Revisited

I've been planning to review Alexander McQueen's Kingdom for quite some time, never thinking I'd finally be doing it because of the designer's tragic death. I've talked about Kingdom a few years ago. I've had a bottle for years, since it first came out, before I could identify most of the notes and simply considered it to be an interesting floral with something wicked in the base. I actually found the sharpness of the neroli and spice to be on the bracing and refreshing side more than sweaty. Without knowing too much, I often used Kingdom for layering with scents I felt could use a twist. That was before I switched to MKK and CB Musk for the same purpose.

I guess I smelled the animalics beyond the rose, mandarin and neroli. I was definitely attracted to this Alexander McQueen scent even without being able to explain what it was exactly, and kept the fascination long after I could discern the cumin and claws. It's definitely there, but in a colder and smoother way than in other scents famous for this note like many Serge Lutens perfumes or Femme de Rochas. Nowadays I regard it as a gothic rose and wear it as such. It's actually polished, deliberated with just the right amount of kinkiness in the base, where it matters.

Alexander McQueen has sold his label to the Gucci Group (keeping the Creative Director title) in the early 2000s. It's not clear who (if anyone) still holds the perfume license for the house, as the two scents that were produced, Kingdom and My Queen, seem to be out of active production though still available from various online sources. It is yet to be seen what Gucci would do with the name, the house and any possible future perfumes. It wouldn't be the same without the designer, that's for sure.

Kingdom perfume ad: okadi.com
Alexander McQueen design for Spring/Summer 2008 as shown in Paris Fashion Week October 2007 from stuff.co.nz.