Michelle J. Mills of
Whittier Daily News recently conducted an interview with
KISS bassist/vocalist
Gene Simmons about the recently released
KISS fragrance lines for men and women.
"The idea of
KISS fragrances initially was not just limited to fragrances, it was for everything head to toe," said
Gene Simmons.
The collection includes "underarm deodorant, shampoo, fragrances, body oils for him and for her," he said. "It's a full line and we have special Merry Kiss-mas boxes where you can stick one or more of everything in there and get it all and giveaway gift baskets and blah, blah, blah."
"What I did was listen to women,"
Simmons explained. "Women would come over, and there's lots of them, thank you. You ask them what they like. We must have had 15 different fragrances on the table and they all veered to one or two of them and we finally decided on one.
"The only thing I did was basically say I like it, I don't like it, which ultimately is what it's all about because no matter how much (research and development) you go through, at the end of the day it's got to be of the people, for the people, by the people. You better have them like it or you're out of business."
"You're talking to men, we're Neanderthals. All we know is when the scent works with a woman, we get aroused and once we get aroused — that's what women are here for.
"That's why you wear makeup and perfume, it's for men,"
Simmons said. "Don't let any other woman kid you otherwise."
"The other biggest thumbs up is I have a 14-year-old daughter named
Sophie (
Tweed-Simmons), on
'Gene Simmons Family Jewels' TV show. The fact that she, and I swear to you, uses
KISS fragrances every day when she goes to school, to the shark-infested waters of 14- and 15-year-old boys, tells me this is the real thing."
"This is turning into a
KISS world actually because we already have the
Kiss Coffeehouse, the first in a new franchise, that's already opened in Myrtle Beach, that's a massive hit,"
Simmons said. "We intend on doing 100 coffeehouses in the next two years."
