LACOSTE RETURNS TO THE MEDITERRANEAN WITH ORIGINAL AQUA, A FRAGRANCE FILM THAT TURNS A FALL INTO FLIGHT

Lacoste has launched Original Aqua, a woody aquatic fragrance introduced through a cinematic campaign that reimagines the conventions of perfume advertising. Directed by Thibault Della Gaspera, the film follows a surreal dive into the Mediterranean, blending choreography, music and movement to capture freshness, elegance and a playful spirit of freedom.

Two years after unveiling its Original fragrance with actor Pierre Niney, Lacoste has returned with a new olfactory chapter: Original Aqua, a woody aquatic composition designed to evoke both vitality and refinement. The fragrance arrives with a striking campaign film that transforms a simple narrative moment into a poetic spectacle, reinforcing the brand’s growing ambition to blur the line between fashion storytelling and cinematic art.

Original Aqua is described as invigorating yet sophisticated, built around the freshness and depth characteristic of aquatic scents, while retaining the elegant signature associated with the French fashion house. In spirit, it continues the creative territory first established in 2024 with the Original campaign, emphasising freedom, movement and effortless style.

For its launch, Lacoste once again collaborated with creative agency Maison BETC, which conceived a film that deliberately plays with — and gently subverts — the conventions of the classic perfume advertisement. Instead of focusing solely on glamour or romance, the campaign introduces a sense of playful unpredictability, allowing the fragrance to be expressed through motion and imagination.

Directed by Thibault Della Gaspera and produced by Prose On Pixels, the film opens with a quiet, contemplative scene. A man stands on the balcony of his room, gazing out across the endless blue of the Mediterranean Sea. The atmosphere is serene, the horizon stretching into infinity as sunlight glints across the water. In his hand sits a bottle of Original Aqua — a small object against the vastness of the landscape.

Then, unexpectedly, the bottle slips.

What follows transforms the familiar into the extraordinary. Rather than panic, the man dives from the balcony in pursuit of the falling fragrance. The moment unfolds not as a frantic chase but as a graceful, almost playful movement through the air. The descent becomes choreography, the fall resembling flight, and the act of retrieving the bottle turns into a dance between gravity and freedom.

As he plunges toward the deep blue sea, the sequence unfolds with fluid elegance, turning an intimate gesture into a visually expansive scene. The Mediterranean becomes both stage and metaphor — a space where freshness, movement and liberation converge.

Central to the film’s energy is dancer Tristan Ridel, whose performance anchors the narrative. With controlled yet expressive physicality, Ridel embodies the fragrance’s spirit through motion. His presence adds a magnetic sensuality to the film, suggesting that scent itself can be experienced as movement — dynamic, fleeting and alive.

The soundtrack further reinforces the campaign’s playful tone. Set to “Le cœur au bout des doigts” by French singer Jacqueline Taïeb, the film adopts a mischievous rhythm that contrasts with the grandeur of the visuals. The vintage pop track injects lightness and character, preventing the narrative from becoming overly solemn and instead maintaining a sense of youthful spontaneity.

Together, the choreography, music and Mediterranean setting create what Lacoste describes as a “luminous sensory experience”. The freshness of the fragrance is mirrored not only through imagery of water and sky but through attitude — a carefree leap into the unknown that captures both confidence and joy.

This creative approach reflects a broader shift within luxury fragrance advertising, where brands increasingly experiment with narrative storytelling rather than traditional glamour-driven imagery. By turning a simple mishap — a dropped bottle — into a cinematic spectacle, the campaign embraces surprise and humour while still delivering the aspirational elegance associated with the Lacoste brand.

The Mediterranean setting also carries symbolic weight. Long associated with leisure, sun-drenched landscapes and coastal freedom, it provides the perfect backdrop for a fragrance built around aquatic freshness. The environment becomes an extension of the scent itself: expansive, refreshing and alive with movement.

With Original Aqua, Lacoste continues to refine its storytelling language in fragrance marketing, combining fashion heritage with cinematic creativity. The campaign suggests that elegance is not static but fluid — something that moves, leaps and evolves.

In the end, the dive for a fallen bottle becomes something larger: a visual metaphor for the freedom to follow instinct, embrace spontaneity and transform ordinary moments into extraordinary ones. Just like the fragrance it celebrates, the film leaves behind an impression of freshness, energy and effortless style.