Vera Wang Fronts Campaign for Relaunch of Her Rock Princess Scent: 'There's a Bit of Rock in All of Us'

Vera Wang is celebrating the relaunch of her Rock Princess fragrance by starring in its new campaign, and sharing the story behind her popular scent

Vera Wang is ready to rock.

The fashion designer, who initially released her Princess Rock fragrance in 2009, is relaunching the scent — and appearing in its elegant and edgy new campaign.

The fragrance is the third in her Princess franchise, which debuted in 2006. She's created one dozen versions of Princess, but Rock remains one of her favorites.

"The new campaign is very, very different from the original," Wang tells PEOPLE exclusively. "This one is meant to sort of inspire a bit of glamour — which I think we're all hungry for more than ever now — as well as energy, confidence, and a sense of empowerment."

Ahead she shares the story behind the scent and its reinvention.

When Wang concepted Princess in the early aughts, she turned to her two daughters, then pre-teens, for help.

"True story!" Wang says. "I wanted to do a younger fragrance at the time, so while I was driving them all around Florida, on our way to the mall I tried a few names on them. And when I said, 'What do you think about Princess?' They went, 'Oh!' and were screaming in the back of the car. I said, 'If you guys like it then I like it.'"

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Thus the franchise was born. Wang explains that while the collection is meant to encourage individuality, there's a common thread in every bottle.

"From the very beginning, for the whole Princess franchise — Bohemian Preppy, Rock — was intended to celebrate girls and women everywhere. It was about diversity and uniqueness and most of all heart which is why the shape of the bottle is a heart. There were no boundaries to the concept of princess, it was about everyone. Everyone feels like they're a princess in some part of their life to someone and how they live."

Of the scent, which combines peach, jasmine, rose and amber, Wang explains, "It's a very, very fruity floral with a bit of musk. I really love that side of it, which I did not do for any of the others. I was able to explore a darkness to it that was sexier."

Wang shares that the original inspiration behind Rock Princess "was about about the American youth culture and the music scene. It was about like suburban backyard scenes and garage bands and skateboarding and posters and teenage life. It was about tour buses and concerts and nightlife and kids hanging together. It was all about Almost Famous, that kind of crazy fandom for musicians and for performers which still exists."

It was "not about glamour" Wang declares. So, why resurrect Rock?

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"I think it's really about a much bigger thing now than what we started out with over 20 years ago. There's still attitude, explosive energy, freedom and fun. But there's glamour — not in the old sense. I think now it's about a license to express yourself. So today, I also see Rock as very seductive and sophisticated and modern. It's for a very fashion savvy girl who is very much still influenced by music."

"Rock is about how much music is brought to the fashion industry, and also how much fashion is brought into music. So, I felt it was timely bringing it back. It's a totally different perspective, and I hope that this campaign expresses that."

She continues, "I didn't want to do it again unless I was going to be able to change it up, you know what I mean? I feel the concept is still valid — the name and the juice — but it [had evolved to] what's going on with all of us culturally."

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With this relaunch, Wang wanted to emphasize that Rock is for women of all ages.

"It's not only for the young; it's for old folks like me. I don't think it's limited to age because why can't I like Rock Princess? You know what I mean? And I think that's kind of the wonderful thing about it. There's a little bit of rock in all of us."

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Wang says that the "glam" and "bling" was inspired by icon Marilyn Monroe.

"To me, she understood how to craft her career in a way that worked the best for her, which I thought was in that day and age for a woman in Hollywood, that was kind of wild. So this came from the song 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend.'"

"I think Marilyn Monroe is really speaking about women's independence in a strange way, and I thought that was kind of very, very cool."

Wang's love of fragrances stems from her teen years in France.

"When you live in Paris, there are a few things that you don't ever forget," she says. "One of them is food. One of them is wine. And one of them is fragrance. Not just fashion, but fragrance."

"I learned a lot about it. Not by studying it, but by wearing it. And girls used to wear perfume in Paris when they were young. That never happened in the states at that time — we were talking about things like Woodstock. It was just such a different culture. And I fell in love with fragrance then."

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