DORÉ

“Obsessed” is a word that has found its way into our modern repertoire of language. I hear it frequently, and would be lying if I said I didn’t use it frequently, too. An easy way to stamp your approval on… anything, really – a song, a partner, your friend’s new outfit. It’s straightforward, uncomplicated, and catchy – but used too much, the novelty of its effective appeal grows dim.

What does it mean to be obsessed with something? I mean really, really, craving constant consumption, can’t sleep, pit in your stomach obsessed with something? This is what we set out to explore when we teamed up with Calvin Klein to celebrate the launch of their new fragrance, OBSESSED Calvin Klein.

Scent is powerful, and inextricably linked to the experience of obsession. A familiar smell can almost immediately transport you to another time, place, moment, person. OBSESSED Calvin Klein cultivates this experience through a balance of feminine and masculine notes. In the women’s fragrance, a gentle white lavender base is cut with masculine tones of musk. In the men’s, black vanilla is playfully matched with the woodsy tones of cedar, patchouli, and leather.

We invited a few vibrant creatives to the studio and put a spotlight on their stories of attraction-turned-obsession.

For Caroline and Michael Ventura, it was a first kiss at baggage claim and filling the miles between their long distance love with each other’s perfume. This year, it’s 9 years of marriage.

A radiant personality is mirrored in the work Gabby Richardson does as an artist and curator for Art Hoe Collective. Driven by passion and the insatiable hunger to create and connect for the greater good – to provide a space that represents people and artists of color.

For Maayan Zilberman, it’s a unique obsession with candy. Not in eating it, but in making it. A sculptor by training, each of her creations is like a little glass sculpture, meticulously crafted with imagination, color, and style. Until we met, I had never seen candy like Maayan’s, and I had never met anyone with such a clear understanding of what exactly it is about candy that makes their face light up like Maayan’s does.

OBSESSED Calvin Klein is an updated reflection on its predecessor, Obsession. The iconic 1993 campaign with Kate Moss shot by her then boyfriend Mario Sorrenti filled with images and videos that oozed authentic passion, depicted a love deeply rooted in curiosity. It was through that lens we approached OBSESSED Calvin Klein.

Drawing on memory, feeling, and nostalgia, being obsessed can drive you to extremes in an almost uncontrollable way. But it can also subtly infiltrate you, and not until you’ve watched the same scene, listened to the same song, looked at the same words over and over again do you realize that your attraction to this thing is more than usual.

In all the things I learned from speaking to our friends above, among which is the notion that love, passion, and meaning are nothing short of crucial, I was also reminded that being truly, deeply, fervently obsessed with something can be pretty damn worth it.

What are you obsessed with?