Vivienne Westwood was born in 1941, and, after studying at Harrow College of Art in London, she worked instead as a Primary School teacher, expressing her creative side in her spare time by making jewellery to sell at Portobello Market. Things changed when she met and moved in with Malcolm McLaren, then manager of the Sex Pistols. Together, Westwood and McLaren completely created the outrageous punk style that featured bondage gear, the use of safety pins and razorblades, dog collar accessories, and other such charming attributes.  Members of the Sex Pistols wore her designs, and Westwood’s shop Sex became a focal point of the punk generation, kickstarting a long and successful fashion career, during which she has received the British Designer of the Year award three times, and was made a Dame for her services to the industry in 2006.

Westwood’s first scent, Boudoir, was launched in 1998, and is a strong lingering scent comprised of top notes of vibernum, bergamot, and mandarin; heart accords of English red rose, tobacco flowers, and heliotrope; and a base of patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, and cinnamon. The fragrance has in the past largely been very exclusive and difficult to get hold of at a good price, but as usual Fragrance Mad has cracked it: we have 50ml of Eau de Parfum available at just £21.99, and that’s free post remember, so that price includes a nice box, a postage label, and some of that crunchy protective packaging that you can throw in the air and pretend it’s snowing.

Tom Ford is a Texas-born fashion designer who has recently made the remarkable move to Hollywood director. Born in 1961, Ford grew up in Texas and New Mexico, before attending New York University to study Art History. Dropping out after a year, Ford began to study a mixture of architecture and fashion and frequenting the infamous Studio 54 nightclub, whose disco glamour would later have a strong influence on his designs (of clothes, not buildings).

Ford began working at fashion houses in America, but eventually left his home country and moved to Europe, working his way up to become Creative Director at Gucci by 1994. When he got the job the company was virtually bankrupt, but within a year Ford had overseen a 90% increase in sales, and by the time he left in 2004, the company was valued at nearly $10 billion. Now, Ford runs his own fashion house, and even made a foray into film-directing with the hugely successful Oscar-nominated A Single Man in 2009.

Ford’s fragrance, Black Orchid, inspired by the elusive quest to create a purely black flower, is a big favourite here at Fragrance Mad. It combines a sensual accord of orchids and woody notes, and manages to be both modern, but also reminiscent of many classic fragrances. We have a 30ml bottle flying fast off the shelves, past our disbelieving eyes and through the door, available for just £24.99.

Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic, but left home at the age of eighteen to study painting in Madrid. He quickly became interested in the fashion world and earned an apprenticeship with the renowned Spanish designer, Cristobal Balenciaga, before moving to Paris as a couture assistant at Lanvin.

Oscar worked for Elizabeth Arden from 1963 to ’65, developing his skills as a clothing designer, before leaving to set up his own high-end fashion brand. Today, he has become one of the most revered designers around, winning numerous awards and having his clothes worn by a range of high-profile celebrities. One of his leading endeavours is his self-titled Eau de Toilette, inspired by the lush gardens of his homeland in the Dominican, and celebrating the romantic and sensual side of femininity. The fragrance contains notes of orange blossom, coriander, peach, jasmine, clove, and lavender, and is one of our very best selling scents at Fragrance Mad, available now for £26.99 for a 100ml bottle. All of the classic style for just half the RRP!

The New York-born Vera Wang has led a varied existence: training in her youth as an ice skater, she competed at the 1968 US Figure Skating Championships, but after failing to make the Olympics team entered the fashion world. She became senior fashion editor at Vogue magazine, but left after sixteen years in 1985, after being turned down in her bid to become Editor-in-chief, a role that went to Anna Wintour, a fashionista later characterised in the scathing book and Hollywood film, The Devil Wears Prada. Emancipated from Vogue, Wang concentrated on making wedding dresses for the stars, including Mariah Carey, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, as well as designing costumes for figure skaters.

Inevitably, Wang soon turned her attention to the fragrance industry, launching her first women’s perfume in 2002, and then following it up with scents such as Bouquet and Truly Pink. Her hugely successful Princess came into being in 2006, before being followed up with variations such as Glam and Flower Princess, both available at Fragrance Mad at scandalously divine prices. Between them, the different Princesses contain such dreamy notes as wild pear, guava, waterlily, amber, and orange blossom. Discover your favourite, and get yourself smelling like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, or someone like that, by picking up a bottle of one of these enchanting, youthful perfumes at your local Fragrance Mad online store.

The Calvin Klein story began in 1968 when the designer opened a coat store in the York Hotel in New York City. After immense initial success he diversified into other clothing ranges, and by the mid-70s Klein presided over a business generating yearly revenue of over $30 million. In 1978, Klein claimed that his new range of jeans had sold over 200,000 pairs in its first week on the market, and later massive success was to come with distinctive CK underwear. It seemed that everything Klein touched turned to gold, but his late-70s initial foray into the fragrance market proved a financial disaster: CK was quick to withdraw from the fragrance market after incurring massive financial losses.

During the 80s, however, sales declined, and Calvin Klein Industries fell into financial troubles. Now, ironically, it was the rejuvenated fragrance lines that were keeping the business afloat, and contributed to its eventual recovery. Obsession was launched in 1985 and Eternity followed in 1988, as the company subtly altered the notes in each fragrance to make both men’s and women’s versions of each. This was taken a step further in 1994 when the revolutionary unisex fragrance, CK One, came onto the market, and was worn the world over during the nineties, and remains hugely popular today. Other hugely popular fragrances followed, including Be, Escape, Euphoria and Ckin2u, all available on Fragrance Mad.

Secret Obsession, launched in 1998, is one of the newer additions to the CK range, and is available now at Fragrance Mad for the truly bargainous price of £20.99 for a 100ml bottle of Eau de Parfum. Secret Obsession is an intoxicating floral oriental fragrance weaving together forbidden fruits, exotic flowers and a sultry wood signature for a provocative and addictive sexiness. It combines top notes of exotic plum, mace and rose de damas; heart notes of Egyptian jasmine, French orange flower and tuberose; and base notes of cashmere wood, burnt amber and Australian sandalwood. The perfume is one of the best-kept secrets of the modern fragrance world: the advertising campaign, featuring Hollywood star Eva Mendes, was banned due to contravening laws for the exposure of certain body parts in advertising, and so the perfume was largely hidden from the eyes of potential customers, only being viewed by hoardes of inquisitive minds on YouTube. So, for Mendes-esque results, indulge your Secret Obsession at Fragrance Mad, and pick up a unique scent that will make you stand out from the crowd, and turn heads wherever you go.

Usher, the American R n’ B legend, burst to attention in 1997 when his debut single ‘You Make me Wanna’ shot straight to the top of the UK charts, and since then he has gone from strength to strength, scoring worldwide number ones with ten different singles, and releasing a host of multi-platinum albums.

Although still a major musical force (he is the only artist to have UK Number Ones in the 90s, 2000s, and 2010s), Usher has diversified his business interests, and in 2007 he entered the fragrance market with his high-class Eau de Parfum, a fresh and floral fragrance with notes of lavender, pinapple, white pepper, violet, vetiver, amber wood, sandalwood, and musk. You’d expect to pay through the nose for such an exquisite scent, and most places you do, but Fragrance Mad has an out-of-this-world deal on Usher: a 50ml bottle costs just £9.99 delivered to your door. Change from a tenner (kind of) for an elite fragrance from a global icon? Fragrance Madness.

Marc Jacobs is one of the world’s most prominent fashion designers, and today runs both his own fashion house, as well as holding the position of Creative Director of Louis Vuitton. Jacobs was born in New York in 1963 and, after attending the New York High School of Art and Design, quickly became a force in the fashion industry, picking up numerous awards and developing his own brand, eventually securing the prized position at Louis Vuitton in 1997.

Jacobs’ fragrances are renowned as some of the most exquisite on the market. First came Daisy, a sweet scent strongly evocative of the wonder of Spring. It contains top notes of wild strawberry, violet leaves, and ruby red grapefruit; heart notes of violet, jasmine, and gardenia; and a base of vanilla and musk. His latest, Lola, is marketed as a more vampish, sensual companion to Daisy, and contains top notes of pink peppercorn, pear, and ruby red grapefruit; heart notes of rose, fuschia, and geranium; and base notes of vanilla, warm tonka bean, and creamy musk. My girlfriend wears it, and it’s damn sexy, for your information.

Circus is the latest perfume from the best-selling Britney Spears Fantasy range, supposedly inspired by her recent album of the same name. Let us know on our spanking new Facebook page (please like us, please) if there are any classic albums or songs that you’d like to be magically turned into a fragrance; perhaps there’s something pungent lurking in Madonna’s leotard from the Hung Up video just waiting to be wrung into bottles.

Lucky really, that Circus is not inspired by the smell of elephants and clowns, but instead a captivating and mischievous blend of juicy raspberry, apricot blossom, blue peony, lotus, orchid, vanilla, musk, and violet candy. It smells sensational and, even better, we’ve got it in stock now at whip-cracking prices of £17.99 for 30ml, and a staggering £26.99 for the 100ml bottle. Get it while it’s hot, or, preferably, room temperature.