If there was ever one piece of advice you ignored growing up, it was probably to eat your vegetables. Fashion and beauty, however, would argue it’s worth reconsidering. Over the past few years, the luxury industry has developed quite the appetite for the vegetable patch, forgoing the usual fruit and floral fare for something a little more savoury.
This year alone, Gentle Monster introduced an eyewear collection adorned with miniature vegetable charms on its frames, as well as accompanying plush carrot keychains (because they are, after all, good for your eyesight). Over at Christian Louboutin, the house served up a black patent stiletto for Fall/Winter 2026 with a side salad of crisp lettuce leaves tucked between the sole and upper, and wrapped around the straps.
Beauty has closely followed the trend as well. Who could forget the peculiarly named “Tomato Girl Summer,” which embodied a breezy Mediterranean holiday aesthetic through light linen dresses and a so-flushed-you-almost-look-sunburnt makeup look?
Fashion followers may have spotted the harvest coming. Those who kept up with Jonathan Anderson’s tenure at Loewe will remember vegetable motifs quickly becoming a house favourite during the designer’s time there. In 2020, Loewe released a line of home scents inspired by the kitchen garden, capturing the smell of peppery oregano and just-pulled beetroot into candles and diffusers. In 2024, the maison followed that up with a Fall/Winter runway inspired by American artist Albert York, whose idyllic paintings took shape as botanical prints, pea pod charms, and a hand-beaded bag fashioned to resemble a bundle of asparagus. It’s no wonder a remarkably sculpted heirloom tomato was eventually declared “so Loewe” that Anderson simply had to give it a designer counterpart in leather and gold hardware.
Jonathan Anderson reveals an heirloom tomato clutch just days after a viral tweet about an heirloom tomato being “so Loewe.” Apparently this is not record meme-to-reality timing: Jonathan told me “we had already made it for next season lol” pic.twitter.com/smi4qBJ7Uk
— Rachel Tashjian Wise (@theprophetpizza) June 6, 2024
Céline Roux, Global Head of Fragrance at Jo Malone London, has been on a similar wavelength for years. Like Anderson at Loewe, Roux has been fascinated by the creative potential of vegetables, eventually culminating in the release of Jo Malone Veggies this summer. She was first inspired by the UK’s culture of homegrown vegetables and prized plots, which soon took her around Britain’s allotment gardens. “We just loved that people, even in the middle of cities like London, can grow their own carrots and herbs—the fact that everyone wants to have a grasp on nature from wherever they are,” she says. Together with her perfumers, Roux wandered the English gardens to understand the evocative beauty of vegetables at their source. “I want fragrances that smell of the vegetable, that smells of nature,” Roux says. “I want to take them on the journey.”
The goal here, for Roux, was to rethink gourmand altogether. “It’s a new era of gourmand. All these scents are quite edible but in a different way,” she explains. “This [collection] takes that idea of something homegrown and unmanicured, but gives it a fresh take.” Instead of syrupy sweetness, Roux balances the earthier notes of greens with more traditional perfume ingredients, like the fruity tartness of apricot jam and the honeyed citrus of orange blossom.
With the Veggies collection, Roux is pushing perfumery into fresh olfactory territory, which has famously always looked for unexpected ways to capture the world around us into scent. “How do you do the next step of ‘edible?’” Roux ultimately asks. She, like many others in the industry, is intent on answering.
Ahead, the vegetable scents that smell just as good as they taste.
Fresh & Floral: Carrot Blossom by Jo Malone London
Beneath carrot’s herbaceous character lies a blossom with a delicate floral sweetness. Jo Malone London’s Veggies collection—which also includes Scarlet Beetroot and Velvety Butternut—draws out those softer qualities in Carrot Blossom. The fragrance begins with fennel, adding a crisp, aromatic freshness reminiscent of freshly picked herbs from the plant. The fragrance’s floral profile comes from its heart note: carrot flower. This is not the actual carrot, per se, but the flowering plant that comes after, whose delicate white blooms possess a naturally airy sweetness. What actually creates a vegetal, earthy character are the base notes of white musk and patchouli, which contain a mossy sort of richness that recalls the smell of freshly turned soil.
Zesty & Aromatic: Aqua Allegoria Perle Nerolia Vetiver by Guerlain
First introduced in Guerlain’s Harvest Collection from 2023, Nerolia Vetiver has now been reformulated in the beauty brand’s new Aqua Allegoria Perle formula. The new formula is an alcohol-free, water-based composition which suspends concentrated fragrance in micro-pearls, marrying the intensity of an eau de parfum with the hydrating feel of skincare. Like its name suggests, the bright and citrusy floral character of neroli is the main note, sharpened by bergamot and petitgrain. From the vegetative side, basil is added for peppery freshness that cuts through the citrus. On the base, vetiver leaves behind a dry, woody impression, balanced out by a creamy fig. The perfume conjures up a vision of citrus trees, herbs, and ripening fruit under the Mediterranean sun.
Green & Savoury: Tomato Bébé by Le Monde Gourmand
If there ever was a main character of the vegetable movement, it would be the tomato. Le Monde Gourmand’s Tomate Bébé marks a noticeable departure for the brand, usually known for dessert-inspired scents like pistachio, vanilla, and strawberry. Here, sweetness is swapped for the delicious smell of an Italian kitchen—Jon and Vinny’s to be exact. The fragrance is actually a limited-edition collaboration between Le Monde and the Californian-Italian pizza restaurant. Lemon verbena, bergamot, and fennel brighten the opening with citrus and aromatic herbs before tomato leaf and basil bring the aroma of freshly crushed vines. Finally, green bell pepper deepens the fragrance’s verdant character, counterbalanced by caramel to keep the overall perfume from smelling like a salad.
Spicy & Smokey: Red Flag by Fascent
With its striking deep pink colour, beetroot is one of the more distinctive vegetables among produce. And its flavour profile is no less pronounced, known for its earthy, mineral taste. Fascent’s amusingly named perfume, Red Flag, tempers down the soil-like quality of beetroot with cardamom and ginger, allowing warm spice to come through without eclipsing the vegetable accord. Powdery iris and incense weave in a smoky, resinous layer, while palo santo and patchouli give the fragrance its woody backbone. The whole combination turns beetroot into something rather seductive, instead of what you’d expect from a green vegetable.
Peppery & Herbal: Rosmarino by Phebo
Anyone who spends time in the kitchen knows the transformative power of herbs. A sprig of rosemary is often enough to fill a pan—and soon the whole room—with its addictive aromatic scent. The herb works just as well bottled into an eau de toilette. Phebo’s Rosmarino blends rosemary with Sicilian lemon and nutmeg, creating a bright, fragrant perfume with a citrusy lift. The addition of black pepper as a middle note also punches up the herbaceous aspects of rosemary. Altogether, Rosmarino smells like the herb garden every home cook wishes they had.
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