Jeans That Smell On Purpose: A Whiff Of Genius?

We've been keeping a close eye on the '90s fashion takeover, but the latest sartorial development is a head-scratcher even for us. Portuguese retailer Salsa is trying to bring back those headache-inducing artificial fruit smells — last sniffed during our childhood in those Mr. Sketch scented watercolor markers — and has put them in your jeans.

Salsa's Fragrance jeans come in five neon ombré shades, each corresponding with a fruity smell: blue (blueberry), pink (strawberry), yellow (lemon), green (apple), and orange (you guessed it). Microcapsules in the fabric make smell-sorcery possible by releasing the fragrance into your jeans for up to 20 washes. Daily Mail did the math: "Even if you wash them every three days, that's almost three months of fruity fragrance." This would have probably been exciting news for us in '95, but now it's a little unsettling. These tiny microcapsules are the Febreze for jeans you never asked for. They'll keep your pants smelling of scented markers so you can skip a load of laundry or four. Just what you always wanted, no?

Salsa isn't the first retailer to dabble in scented denim: Naked & Famous released their own mint-scented pair using a similar microcapsule technology. While Salsa does offer international shipping, unfortunately their site does not have a scratch 'n' sniff function. You're going to have to purchase the jeans yourself to get a whiff firsthand.