To be the face of Wonderlust, the new travel-inspired fragrance from Michael Kors, one has to be a seasoned jet-setter—which explains why Kors picked Lily Aldridge, the Nashville-based supermodel who frequently circles the world for work, to be his latest muse. “I am an expert packer,” admitted Aldridge en route to Montauk, New York, where she spent Labor Day weekend swimming, surfing, and cruising in the sun with a crew that included her pal and campaign co-star Wouter Peelen. “I’m that girl who watches YouTube videos for packing techniques—rolling your clothes is more space-efficient than folding them, FYI—and I know the carry-on luggage that fits the most stuff.” Because when you go, go, go like Aldridge does, there’s no time to check a bag. “It’s carry-on only for me.”
So what, in addition to a bottle of Wonderlust, did Aldridge pack for a work-and-play road trip to Long Island’s most idyllic surf town? A wardrobe made for paddleboarding at Navy Beach, lunching at The Lobster Roll on Montauk Highway, and ducking under waves at Ditch Plains, to start. “It’s my first time!” Aldridge admitted, gracefully kneeling onto the paddleboard in a white one-piece from Michael Kors Collection. “Can you tell?!” And off she went.
That adventurous spirit makes Aldridge the globe-trotting embodiment of Kors’s new perfume—which riffs on the concept of being bitten by the ‘wanderlust’ travel bug and is spiked with notes of Italian bergamot, Sicilian Mandarin, almond milk, and pink pepper. Finished with hints of Sri Lankan sandalwood, it’s like an olfactory world tour: Point to a place on the map, and Wonderlust can likely take you there.
And so, in one whirlwind weekend, Aldridge and Peelen, who came all the way from his native Amsterdam for the occasion, mastered the Montauk scene. “I think the best part was the surfing,” Aldridge said over cocktails at the cool, camp-style H๏τel and restaurant, Ruschmeyer’s. “The water was so cold, but so refreshing, too. It was really unexpected.” The best escapes always are.