Rina Lipa Fronts GCDS Morso, the Brand's First Fragrance

Rina Lipa has landed her first beauty campaign as the face of GCDS Morso, the Italian fashion brand's debut unisex fragrance, which launches Thursday under a five-year license with Desire Holding.

The scent nods to GCDS's bestseller: the fang-shaped Morso heels — "Morso" translates to "bite" — and the bottle mirrors that provocative design in metallic gold.

"When we started thinking about who could be the ambassador, Rina was the first name. I was sure from the beginning," GCDS founder Giuliano Calza told WWD. "These shoes are the result of a labor of love and the perfume is the same. And when you're working with someone that you love as much as I love Rina, it just makes sense."

Calza described Lipa — the younger sister of Dua Lipa, one of his close friends — as someone who "has always been one of my muses throughout the years and can wear anything from GCDS because she's literally this cute face but she bites." She walked the brand's digital fall 2021 show and its in-person spring 2023 show.

What does the fragrance smell like?

Developed with perfumer Angéline Leporini, the gourmand eau de parfum opens with dates, roasted hazelnut and rum, builds on honeyed jasmine and amber, and closes with vanilla and incense.

It comes in four sizes:

• 18-ml travel spray, 39 euros, doubling as a charm
• 30-ml, 65 euros
• 50-ml, 89 euros
• 100-ml, 120 euros

Distribution starts at Sephora and Douglas in Europe plus selected luxury perfumeries, and expands internationally from there.

How big are the ambitions?

Desire Holding CEO Antonio Lemma targets at least 3,000 points of sale across Europe and up to 4,000 doors worldwide within the first 12 months. On that basis, he estimates 10 million to 15 million euros in first-year retail sales. He sees Italy and the U.S. — which offers "considerable potential for a distinctive, fashion-driven fragrance concept" — as priority markets.

"One of the biggest challenges was undoubtedly the technical development of the bottle and packaging," Lemma said. "Achieving the right balance between the original creative vision, functionality and manufacturing feasibility was a complex process. However, preserving the integrity of the design was essential to creating a product that feels unmistakably GCDS."

How was the campaign made?

Daniel Sannwald photographed Lipa in London last year, with a flanking video showing, in Calza's words, "this angel girl turning into a vixen."

"But she is already that girl from the beginning: the perfume just brings it out," he said.

An earlier concept imagined a kitchen with a giant table, playing on cravings literally. The team stripped it down instead: a runway-like set, with Lipa crawling to the fragrance at one end. "We just turned down the lights and it looked so good," Calza said.

Lipa said she accepted the offer — dropped casually over dinner two summers ago — without hesitation. "It was a big responsibility. I wanted him to be happy and to make him proud. And working together was amazing.…Even on the set of the campaign, we had so much fun," she said. Britney Spears soundtracked the eight-hour shoot: "we were just constantly dancing on hits like 'Gimme More' and 'Circus' and at some point everyone joined us, including my brother."

Thursday's Milan launch includes a fan appearance at the Alberto Magri pastry shop with Morso-themed cookies, campaign-wrapped trams across the city, and a dinner and after party.

What comes next?

GCDS, founded by Calza 10 years ago and backed since 2020 by Made in Italy Fund, already licenses eyewear and jewelry with Marcolin and Morellato, and plans ancillary Morso products for 2027. Calza wants more: "I think there's a need of beauty for men, not necessarily makeup…but I'd love to expand and have a solid beauty routine," he said, teasing "a crazy blush or unisex contour stick or candies for your breath" in the "toys for adults" vein. He is also pushing further into watches after last year's 10 initial designs exceeded his expectations.