Dolce & Gabbana’s warm eau de parfum: peach, lychee and white flowers over vanilla and amber, by Christine Nagel, 2006.
At a glance
The One is a Dolce & Gabbana eau de parfum composed by Christine Nagel and launched in 2006. It is a fruity floral on a warm base: peach, lychee and citrus over white flowers, then vanilla, amber and musk.
It became one of the house’s two best-known fragrance lines, alongside Light Blue, and it is still in production.
Creation and context
By 2006 Dolce & Gabbana’s fragrance business rested on Light Blue (2001), a bright citrus built around the idea of Sicily. The One went the other way. Where Light Blue was cool and sharp, The One was warm, soft and powdery, and it gave the house a second, evening-oriented pillar.
The perfumer was Christine Nagel, credited by Fragrantica, Now Smell This and Scentbird. She later joined Hermès, in 2014, and succeeded Jean-Claude Ellena as its in-house perfumer in 2016.
The name set up a franchise. A companion fragrance, The One for Men, followed in 2008, and the pair were later advertised together. Scarlett Johansson became the face of The One, and in 2013 Martin Scorsese directed her with Matthew McConaughey in “Street of Dreams,” a short film shot in New York for both fragrances.
The composition
Dolce & Gabbana has not published the formula. The structure below uses only the materials named in at least two of the standard references.
The classification varies with where the reference puts its weight. Basenotes calls The One a fruity floral, after its peach-and-lychee opening; Fragrantica calls it an oriental floral, after the vanilla and amber that dominate the drydown. Both are fair. The fragrance moves from one to the other over a few hours.
The fruit is the most contemporary part of the design. Underneath it sits a much older structure, white flowers over vanilla and amber, which is the outline of a classic floral oriental and the reason the fragrance lasts as long as it does.
Why it matters
The One is less a turning point in perfumery than a successful example of how a major designer franchise is built. It took a familiar structure, gave it a contemporary fruity opening and a strong name, and then extended it across parallel lines, flankers and high-profile campaigns for well over a decade.
It is also one of the better-known designer works of Christine Nagel before her Hermès years. Heard beside her later work for that house, it shows how much a perfumer’s voice depends on the brief and the brand.
Reformulation and editions
The original is an eau de parfum. The line has since grown to include flankers such as Rose The One and The Only One, each with its own campaign, and a parallel range that began with The One for Men in 2008.
Dolce & Gabbana has not published a reformulation history. The license has changed hands more than once since 2006, and the house has run its fragrance business itself since 2023, so it is worth comparing an older bottle with a current one if you have both, paying most attention to the drydown.
Wearing it today
Expect a soft fruity opening, a short floral heart, and a long vanilla-amber drydown. Reviewers on Fragrantica report strong longevity, especially on fabric, and Basenotes reviewers give it around seven hours on skin.
It suits cooler weather and evenings best. One or two sprays are usually enough; test it on skin rather than paper and judge it after an hour, when the base has taken over. If you already know The One for Men, the two share a warm, amber-led character and make an easy pair. When buying, check the label carefully: the name The One now covers many editions, and everything above describes the original 2006 eau de parfum.