Reviews

CK One

Published September 16, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026

Calvin Klein launched CK One in 1994, an Eau de Toilette designed for men and women alike, composed by Alberto Morillas and Harry Frémont of Firmenich. Its citrus, green tea, and clean musks, its frosted bottle by Fabien Baron, and Steven Meisel’s black-and-white campaign made it the scent of a generation.

Ermano Picco, on ÇaFleureBon, credits CK One with redefining what clean smells like; in 2025, Rebecca Fearn, in Marie Claire, rediscovers in it the freshness of her early adulthood, growing more powdery and warmer as she wears it.

What critics say

Ermano Picco, ÇaFleureBon, August 2017

On August 27, 2017, Ermano Picco ranked CK One among ÇaFleureBon’s modern masterpieces. When asked for a powdery, bright perfume, like a fresh-out-of-the-shower cloud, he first recommends cheap white musks, and CK One as soon as someone wants something more chic.

He considers it a turning point, as much for its scent as for its image: in his view, it changed what the West means by smelling clean. His judgment concerns the original 1994 Eau de Toilette, taken from his own collection.

Rebecca Fearn, Marie Claire, April 2025

On April 1, 2025, Rebecca Fearn wrote in Marie Claire that CK One was her first grown-up perfume. She finds in it a clean, modern freshness, a juicy burst of lemon, mandarin, and green notes, which grows more powdery and warmer as she wears it.

She loves its successive layers as much as its message, a scent for everyone at every age, and the frosted glass bottle that makes her feel stylish whatever the era. She vows always to keep a bottle of it.