From Afternoon Swim to Pacific Chill: LV's Ode to the West Coast

There's something almost absurd about a Parisian luxury house trying to bottle California. The land of juice cleanses, perpetual sunshine, and people who say "vibes" without irony doesn't exactly scream Louis Vuitton. And yet, here we are, with an entire collection of fragrances dedicated to the West Coast—and somehow, against all odds, they actually work.

The Louis Vuitton Cologne Perfumes collection (sometimes called the California collection) represents the house's ongoing love affair with Los Angeles and its surrounding coastline. Since 2019, LV has steadily built out a lineup of fresh, citrus-forward scents designed to evoke everything from morning surf sessions to sunset cocktails on rooftops with suspiciously attractive strangers.

These aren't your grandmother's colognes, though. While they smell light and breezy, they're formulated as Eaux de Parfum—meaning they actually last longer than your average summer freshie. It's a clever move: all the brightness of a cologne with enough staying power to justify the price tag.

The Art of the Bottle

Before we dive into what's inside, let's talk about what's outside. Every fragrance in this collection features packaging designed by LA-based artist Alex Israel, whose gradient sunset paintings and pop-inflected aesthetic have made him something of an art-world darling. His contributions transform the bottles into miniature pieces of California iconography—palm trees against purple skies, blazing suns, crashing waves.

It's a collaboration that makes sense. Israel once described fragrance as "an accessory to performance," and if any city embodies performance, it's Los Angeles—a place where everyone is perpetually auditioning for something.

Afternoon Swim (2019)

The one that started it all. Afternoon Swim captures that very specific moment when you're floating in a pool, sun warming your face, with a cold drink waiting on the ledge. It opens with an explosion of Sicilian orange, mandarin, and bergamot—basically an entire citrus grove in liquid form—before a whisper of ginger adds subtle spice.

The magic here is in the base: a faint saltiness that evokes skin after swimming, that mineral quality of chlorine and sunshine. It's been compared to everything from Tom Ford's Mandarino di Amalfi to Dior Homme Cologne, but with a distinctly more casual, California energy.

Fair warning: this one doesn't last forever. You're looking at maybe five or six hours before it fades to a skin scent. But for a summer freshie, that's actually pretty respectable. Keep a travel bottle handy for touch-ups and you'll be fine.

Sun Song (2019)

Sun Song arrived alongside Afternoon Swim and takes a different approach: where its sibling goes juicy citrus, this one leans into orange blossom. The result is something airy and luminous, like morning light streaming through sheer curtains.

The composition is deceptively simple—citron, orange blossom, musk—but therein lies its elegance. Some reviewers find it reminiscent of dryer sheets or cleaning products (neroli can go that direction on certain skin), while others swear it's pure bottled sunshine. Your mileage may vary, which is why sampling before committing is essential.

Those who love it really love it. The orange blossom faithful consider it one of the finest iterations on the market, outperforming even Tom Ford's Neroli Portofino in longevity. Those who don't... well, they tend to use words like "Lemon Pledge."

Cactus Garden (2019) — Discontinued

Pour one out for Cactus Garden, the cult favourite that LV unceremoniously axed. This was the collection's wild card: a bright, herbaceous blend of lemongrass, bergamot, and mate tea that captured the paradox of the desert plant—dry and spiny on the outside, wet and vital within.

Fans describe it as minty, mango-adjacent, and utterly unique. It developed a devoted following, which made its discontinuation all the more painful. If you spot a bottle in the wild, grab it. The clones floating around can only approximate what LV's quality ingredients achieved here. Sometimes the good ones don't survive.

California Dream (2020)

Named after the collective delusion that moving to LA will solve all your problems, California Dream is the collection's warmest entry. It opens with mandarin but quickly drifts into a creamy, musky territory that feels less "beach day" and more "golden hour on a patio somewhere in Silver Lake."

The notes are minimal—mandarin, pear, ambrette, benzoin, musk—but they blend into something surprisingly textured. That benzoin adds a balsamic sweetness that keeps things interesting without veering into gourmand territory. It's sunset in a bottle, which is exactly what it's trying to be.

Performance is moderate. Expect around six hours, though projection tends to stay close to the skin. This is a fragrance that invites people to lean in rather than announcing your presence from across the room.

On the Beach (2021)

Here's where things get interesting. On the Beach doesn't smell like coconut sunscreen or tropical drinks—it smells like the beach itself. The actual beach. Sand, salt air, the slightly herbal quality of coastal vegetation.

Yuzu and neroli open things up, but the heart is where the fragrance earns its name: rosemary, thyme, pink pepper, and cypress create an aromatic, almost Mediterranean quality. Several reviewers swear they can smell sand, which sounds like marketing nonsense until you actually try it.

The cypress note is the secret weapon here, adding a green, woody undertone that grounds the citrus and prevents it from feeling too fleeting. Longevity varies wildly depending on skin chemistry—some get two hours, others get eight. On the Beach is nothing if not unpredictable.

City of Stars (2022)

The most cinematic entry in the collection, City of Stars was launched atop the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures because of course it was. This is Los Angeles as performance, as fantasy, as the place where people reinvent themselves under palm trees and neon signs.

A blend of five different citruses—lime (a first for LV), blood orange, lemon, bergamot, blood mandarin—creates an effervescent opening that practically fizzes on the skin. Tiare flower adds a creamy, tropical floral quality in the heart, while sandalwood and musk keep things grounded in the base.

The bottle packaging is peak Alex Israel: palm trees silhouetted against a gradient sunset in orange, pink, and purple. It looks like an Instagram filter you'd actually want to use.

Fair warning: City of Stars reads as distinctly powdery to some noses. The combination of tiare and musk creates an unmistakable suntan lotion quality that's either nostalgic or off-putting depending on your relationship with the 1980s.

Pacific Chill (2023)

The newest addition to the lineup, and arguably the most ambitious. Pacific Chill attempts to capture California's wellness culture—the smoothie bars, the yoga retreats, the general sense that everyone is healthier than you—in olfactory form.

Blackcurrant leads the charge, backed by citron, lemon, and a distinctive mint note. Then things get weird: carrot seeds, apricot, basil, and dates create an unexpectedly complex middle, while fig and ambrette round things out in the base. It's fruity without being cloying, fresh without being generic.

The result smells like a really expensive juice bar—and I mean that as a compliment. It's unlike anything else in the collection, juicy and effervescent with a sophistication that separates it from the countless "fresh citrus" options flooding the market.

Performance is solid for a freshie, with most reviewers reporting six to eight hours. Some compare it to luxury shampoo, which again, depending on your perspective, is either a selling point or a deal-breaker.

The Verdict

Louis Vuitton's California collection isn't trying to be everything to everyone. These are summer fragrances—light, bright, and unapologetically seasonal. They're designed for beach days and rooftop drinks, not board meetings or winter evenings.

Are they overpriced? Probably. The performance-to-price ratio will make some fragrance enthusiasts twitch. But there's something to be said for the sheer quality of the materials and the thoughtfulness of the compositions. These don't smell like designer fragrances slumming it in the fresh category—they smell like someone actually cared about getting the citrus right.

If you're going to splurge, Afternoon Swim remains the crowd favourite for good reason: it's universally likeable and captures the collection's essence perfectly. Pacific Chill is the choice for those who want something more distinctive. On the Beach is for the contrarians who find mainstream freshies boring.

And if you can find a bottle of Cactus Garden? Don't ask questions. Just buy it.

The Collection at a Glance: