Hugo Deep Red Hugo Boss 2001

At the beginning of the 2000s, I moved into my first apartment right after graduating from high school. It was small and far out of town, so it felt like I was on the streetcar for ages to get to university in the city center. The floors were crooked and creaked with every step and the small fitted kitchen was still from the 70s and in questionable vintage brown tones even back then. The heating was provided by outdated gas ovens and until they finally started up, you had to press the little button under the cover dozens of times, especially at the beginning of the cold season. To make a long story short: This little apartment was perfect. I furnished it with a mixture of the cheapest Ikea furniture, old furniture from my parents and my children's room and things from the flea market. I bought a small tube TV (those are the ones that are deeper than they are wide ;-)) and often had MTV on almost all day. The older ones among us may remember: MTV, the music television channel, actually played music videos almost all day long before the days of YouTube and constantly available high-speed internet. (And does anyone else remember VIVA Zwei?) So I was sitting in this small apartment with the old, slightly crooked lime tree in front of one window and the ugly little 70s tower block - there are indeed small tower blocks - in front of the other window, flicking through my first semester university folders, slightly overwhelmed and fascinated at the same time. The TV was on MTV, maybe Linkin Park or Avril Lavigne or an episode of South Park. And the room smelled of "Hugo Deep Red", vanilla and berry and sweet. Life felt eternal, in a positive sense, after all, everything was still ahead of me and the future was open and free.

"Hugo Deep Red" is not a fancy fragrance. It never was and probably never wanted to be. It smells pleasantly of vanilla and red berries and reminds me a little of red fruit jelly with vanilla sauce. I used to find it very sweet, but compared to the sweetness of some modern perfumes, it is not. It now has that special something of a fragrance that you don't smell that often anymore and that no longer corresponds to current trends. Today it seems a little out of date to me, but not in a negative sense, not old-fashioned, rather retro (and a little bit sexy), and absolutely still wearable, even for young people.

The house with my first small apartment has since been demolished and replaced by a new, chic apartment building with large balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows. And the ugly little tower block opposite has also been given a new coat of paint. But the old lime tree still stands, crooked as ever, defying the years that pass by. And when I walked down my old street recently, I could have sworn the air smelled of "Hugo Deep Red".