Glitter vs grit: three holiday fantasies from By Kilian, Mugler, and Good Girl

There is holiday sparkle, and then there is the kind of sparkle that stalks you home at 3 a.m. and calls itself a cab. The new campaigns from By Kilian, Mugler, and Carolina Herrera Good Girl land squarely in that after-dark zone, each with a different fantasy of how we want to smell when the temperature drops and self-control follows.

Let’s start with By Kilian. The house does nocturnal glamour like a pro, all lacquered lips and low ceilings, the promise of a last pour when we probably do not need one. Even without reading a single line of copy, I know what this brand sells me in winter, intimacy with a provocative edge, a scent that smolders on skin rather than twinkles from a scarf. If your party season is more velvet booth than office buffet, this vibe is the one that lingers, and yes, it will be noticed.

Mugler goes in the opposite direction, and honestly, thank goodness. This is the chapel of maximalism where restraint goes to repent. The campaign energy is chrome bright and crystalline, the kind of glamour that makes you stand a little taller. Mugler has always been about architecture you can smell, projection that cuts through December fog and questionable playlist choices. If your holiday is a silver dress and a key change, you already know why this brand still owns the room.

Then there is Carolina Herrera Good Girl, the perennial stiletto that refuses to retire. Every year people ask me if I am over the heel, and every year I say no, because the duality still works. Good, bad, sugar, spice, a wink that reads from across the bar. The holiday treatment puts a bow on what has become a cultural shorthand, and while subtle it is not, the confidence is contagious. Sometimes you want a scent that tells your outfit who is in charge.

Three fantasies, three ways to survive the glitter. I will wear By Kilian when the night is intimate and slightly dangerous, Mugler when I need stage lights, and Carolina Herrera Good Girl when I am feeling unmistakably high-heeled, even in boots. Choose your chaos accordingly, and let the season catch up to you.