RABANNE’S NEW MILLION GOLD ELIXIR EMBODIED BY MOSES SUMNEY

Moses Sumney, Rabanne Ambassador since 2024 - the year when Million Gold Eau de Parfum Intense was created, embodies the most opulent masculine signature - the Million Gold Elixir. The Million Gold Elixir honours the Million tradition, and comes in a sleek bottle in the shape of a golden ingot, featuring La Maison’s iconic XL Link, reflecting the intensity and depth of the fragrance within.

The Million Gold Elixir is composed by Million Gold Eau de Parfum Intense perfumers Christophe Raynaud and Quentin Bisch, inspired by the most noble perfumery ingredients to create a strong base of ambery, sandalwood signature, adding the liquorous XL vanilla scent, and a powerful burst of citrus bringing the golden hues. A touch of spicy cardamom, and finally a few drops of potent cypriol oil blended with patchouli complete this complex signature with intensity and depth.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MOSES SUMNEY

What does Rabanne mean to you as a Maison? What do you feel it stands for?

Rabanne is such an iconic Maison, one I’ve always thought was very cool. The images of the clothing from the ‘60s and ‘70s are forever burned into my brain. In general, I’m interested when designers play with futurism. The ads have always been iconoclastic. The brand has done an excellent job creating a consistent language over the years that’s classy, elevated, and fun. 

Rabanne’s manifesto is to galvanize the next generation to forge a more creative and inclusive future. What values do you share with Rabanne?

Creating more opportunities for a diverse range of young people now and in the future is something that’s very important to me. I think even Rabanne having me in this campaign is an example of a commitment to that. I would say it’s a choice that broadens what we expect to see in men’s fragrance. And that’s something that’s important to me—to reach out to the next generation of people who might not be the obvious choices, both in the fashion industry and in the music industry. In my work, I’m always trying to make less obvious choices, so that we can create opportunities for people who don’t come from fashion or music or who come from backgrounds where opportunities are not as easily accessible to them. It’s important to do that in a way that doesn’t feel didactic but, rather, just feels loving and fun. 

When was the first time you encountered a Rabanne fragrance, and what are your memories of that moment?

Honestly, I think it was not that long ago—probably some point in the last five years. I had always seen 1 Million, but I think the first time I actually smelled it was when a friend of mine was wearing it in the studio, where senses are heightened. I was like, « Well, what is that? ». It was a woody and, dare I say, masculine scent. I thought it smelled great. I was like, « all right, I need that ».

What do like about Million Gold? 

I live most of the time in the forest in North Carolina, in the woods. I really love natural scents and scents that remind me of home and of nature. But I think what I like most about the new Million Gold is actually the woodiness of it. 

Do you have tips for men in choosing a fragrance? 

My tip for men with fragrance is that the most attractive thing is for someone to smell you when they’re near you. I think it works better for a woman to walk into a room and for people to notice how she smells. But for men, I think it’s nice for a scent to remain a little bit of a secret. To wear a scent in a way that makes someone want to come near you because that’s the only way they can fully enjoy; to use it to draw people in. 

My other tip would be to work to find the scents that smell good on your actual skin because, obviously, our bodies all produce different pheromones. And so it can be a bit of a task to figure out what mixes well with your natural scent.

What do you like about the Million Gold bottle design? What makes it stand out? 

It’s sexy and it’s hefty. Like, if I’m out in the streets late at night and I need a little weapon, I could just hold onto it. In case anybody steps to me, I can be like, “Uh-huh, Million Gold.” It’s substantial. And it makes you feel a little fancy. You can put your pinky up, and I like that. I also like the gold chain element [the Maison’s iconic XL Link necklace]. I only wear jewelry that is gold. When I think of elegance, and especially when I think of Black elegance, I’m always thinking black and gold.

Million Gold is about empowerment and excellence and individuality. What does empowerment mean to you? 

Empowerment to me just means being able to be yourself unabashedly, without shame, and without anyone being able to dim your light. Empowerment is having the channel to your inner self be really clear and not blocked by other people’s expectations or rules. It’s the freedom of self-expression. When I feel the most empowered is when nothing gets in the way of me being my truest self. Which is how I felt when we shot this ad. I felt like I was being welcomed, and encouraged, to just be myself.

In what ways is fashion and your sense of style important to you as means of fearless self-expression?

How I dress is reflective of how I feel on a day-to-day basis and is very important to me. As an artist, my job is literally to connect with my emotions. Aesthetics are very important to me in the communication of who I am. I like for my fashion to announce me. Fashion is communication. You’re communicating who you are—first to yourself and then to other people.

The TV campaign for Million Gold is set to Beyoncé’s “Pure/Honey.” How does that make you feel? 

Well, it’s pretty cool. When they told me on set about the plan to use “Pure/ Honey,” I was like, “Really?” I didn’t believe it. Because here’s the thing: Bey doesn’t say yes to a lot. You’re not just going to play her music. Even if you have the money. So I am really grateful that she said yes and I couldn’t be happier because I love the entire Renaissance album, and “Pure/Honey” is probably my favorite song on it. It’s a perfect song, and it’s not the kind of music I usually listen to at all. But it’s just so creative and so brilliant and reflective in the way that it blends genre—two completely different sounds. The way that Beyoncé thinks about genre, especially on these past two albums, is close to home for me as someone who pulls musically and artistically from a lot of different influences. 

What about the song do you think makes it feel right for the campaign? 

I really believe that we can do anything. We can explore anything that our heart is into. I wish the “Honey” part was longer. I listen over and over and over and over and it’s so cool. It’s the kind of song where I can picture walking down the street and feeling like, “Man, I’m untouchable.”

How do you feel about being the new face of Million Gold?

I had a vision board of what I wanted to do when working in fashion. And believe it or not, a Rabanne fragrance ad was very, very high up there. And so it’s a bit of a dream come true. 

How would you describe the look of the campaign? What feelings do you hope it evokes or inspires? 

The look of the campaign is really fun. It’s very glossy. There are moments that remind me of the ‘70s and the ‘80s. It almost has a bit of a Studio 54 feel, like when Gigi and I are dancing. And then, there are moments where I feel like a superhero when we’re on the top of the building overlooking the cityscape. I think it’s incredibly romantic and dreamy in that it looks and feels like what you imagine, in your perfect little vision, that you look like when you get ready for a night out, but times a hundred. It’s so elevated. 

What was it like shooting the campaign with Mert Alas and Manu Cossu? What was the best part of the shoot?

The shoot was definitely the biggest production I’ve ever been on. I’ve shot a TV show, I’ve shot a movie; I’ve done a bunch of music videos. But I’ve never been on a production. The scale was just massive and everyone was such a pro. And I was like, “Okay, we in the big leagues now.” Very inspiring. I direct as well, so having the opportunity to be on a set that large and being able to watch what they were doing with the camera and the props, seeing what the cinematographer is doing, seeing how they’re laying out and building all the different sets—it was such a valuable experience for me.

What was your earliest memory of music? Did you listen to a lot of music growing up? What kind? 

My family is from Ghana. My dad exclusively listened to reggae music and my mom exclusively listened to gospel. I remember a lot of church music and a lot of Bob Marley. In Ghana, there’s a lot of Reggie Rockstone, and a lot of Peter Tosh, and just a lot of music about liberation. All of that was very big in my household. At the same time, I hated my parents’ music. I was like, “turn this off.” Of course, now I completely love everything that they listened to. 

Back then, I was actually very into country music. I listened exclusively to country radio—contemporary ‘90s country music—probably from when I was six or seven to when I was 11 or 12. There’s a station in Southern California called KFROG. If you liked country, you could not listen to anything else. Whenever we were in the car, I was like, “I got to hear my Garth Brooks.” I think I just never felt constrained by genre. Obviously, people would be like, “Why does this little Black kid like country music?” But especially being Ghanaian-American as well, my identity was just always a mixture of things. I think that was really reflected when I started to write music.

What was the best advice you got starting out in music? 

I started writing songs when I was around 12 years old, but I was very secretive and shy, so I didn’t start performing until I was in college. I went to UCLA, and I started performing on campus and eventually at bars around town. The best advice I got starting out was probably that I should find my sound, or else someone would find it for me. I think that’s the best advice that someone gave me. Because when I first came on the scene, there were a lot of industry folks trying to work with me. One would say, “You’re a pop star.” Another would say, “You’re an R&B star.” And I was just like, “I don’t think so, at least not right now.” You’ve got to really know who you are, or else other people will decide for you.

Your music is often about defying expectation. Why has that been important to you? What was something people expected of you that you sought to defy? 

In the early days, there was this idea that I was going to be an R&B artist because I like my little riffs and rhymes, and because I am Black. It was such a limited view. I think I always wanted to defy the idea that I had to make any one type of music. With each project I create new boundaries. I reach new heights, and create new expectations from the audience. And then, for the next project, I seek to defy those new expectations I just created. It’s really important to me to continue to evolve and explore new things. Now, after a couple albums, I think I’m next going to make an R&B project because I’m like, “Let me show you all what I actually would do if I was making R&B music.” So that’s my next.

What do you love about fashion? How does your mood inspire your outfits? 

I very much have a uniform. I only wear black, whether I’m going out or staying in. But within that, there is actually a lot of range. I love having a consistent relationship with clothing. For me, the number one rule is that everything I wear has to be comfortable. I don’t wear anything, ever, that’s not comfortable. Pretty much every outfit I have I could go to sleep in. Getting dressed is very easy for me. Well, sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes it’s hard because everything’s black and I can’t tell what’s what. I’m like, “Wait, is this a shirt or a pair of pants?”

And what do I love about fashion? I love the opportunity for self-expression, and I love that sometimes when I have a good outfit on, I feel like I have a little secret. I’ve got this thing that’s just mine. I think that’s where autonomy begins, honestly. What we put on our bodies is directly connected to how free we are or aren’t. 

Who are your fashion icons? 

Grace Jones. It’s always been Grace Jones. I would say my two style icons are Grace Jones and Malcolm X—two people I share a birthday with. I love telling people that Grace Jones is my mom and seeing how far I can get with it that. When you think of Malcolm, you think of the suits and the glasses. I think it’s really important to have an iconic, consistent look that people identify with you. If someone were to draw a caricature of you, how would they do it? And then with Grace, I think about the grace with which she dressed, but also the way she challenged gender norms. That’s so important to me.

In that vein, weirdly—bear with me—I also think of Marge Simpson a lot. I know what she’s wearing, what she looks like. I can draw her. If you draw an outline of her, I know who you’re talking about. I think about fashion in that way. When I’m constructing how I look, I think about the cut of my clothing. I also love André 3000!

Do you have a personal mantra? 

I feel like I have so many and yet I’m suddenly like, do I have any at all? My mantra, really, is to tell the truth. And that just means in the way that I dress, in the way I speak, in the way that I make art, and the way that I show up every day. Telling the truth really frees you.

How do you define ´success´? 

I define success as doing whatever the hell I want, when I want. So, I feel like I’m halfway there, honestly. But we’ve all got to answer to somebody, I guess. 

What’s your favorite way to wear fragrance?  

Never on the clothes. It’s always on the skin. It’s behind my ears and a bit on the sides of my neck. And then, I like to have it on my wrists. If someone gives me a hug, it’s like, “Oh, what’s that?”

What’s your earliest fragrance memory? 

My earliest fragrance memories are bad, but in a funny way. I don’t think my dad or my mom were huge fragrance people. My sister and my mom definitely had their perfumes. I think my earliest fragrance memory is being a teenager and going to school and trying to impress girls and just being like, “What do you wear to impress girls?” I’d just spray a shit ton of cologne on myself. At the same time, my body was changing and I was developing a natural scent. That was really horrifying when combined with all that cologne.

How do you define “beauty?” Can beauty be masculine? 

I don’t even think of beauty in terms of masculine and feminine anymore. I just think beauty is beauty. But I define beauty so broadly because I really do think that it comes from within. We’re surrounded by hot people all day long on screens. But that’s not really beauty. Beauty is something more, for sure. For me, it’s connected to emotional health and emotional vulnerability. I try to channel those two things. When I’m in a good place with them, it shows physically. So, when people say beauty comes from within, of course it can sound really cliché, but I think it’s true. When you are making an effort to be good to yourself and to be good to other people, it actually fixes your face. It’s channeling a light that comes from either the natural world or from the universe—you are that connected. 

Did you have a beauty icon growing up—and do you now? 

Growing up, no. Maybe Grace Jones, still—that dark, rich skin. My beauty icons are probably the men in West Africa. I lived in West Africa for six years, and I think really dark-skinned people who are out in the sun all day working are my beauty icons. People just walking down the street in Africa are the most beautiful. Within the industry, though, it just comes back to Grace.