"I'm very Hollywood in modern terms," said Kors, sitting in his Beverly Hills store with passers-by shooting pictures through the windows. "I don't think I am old-fashioned Hollywood glamour. I am definitely not Cary Grant. I am still very low-key. When I run into Ellen Pompeo and her husband at the Beverly Hills Hotel, we are in flip-flops eating grilled cheese."

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"I am every bit as intrigued by seeing Reese [Witherspoon] with her kids or Angelina [Jolie] with her groceries looking great as I am seeing them on the red carpet," said Kors. "When you put this makeup on, suddenly you feel attainable glamour. You walk into the office, and no one would say, 'Is that a new lipstick?' You look glamorous without looking painted. That would be your Hollywood moment."

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Kors' approach to the collection is set apart by his desire for sheerness, even in the lipsticks, which are called sheens. "That's something that was really new for Estee Lauder," said Lauder. "It is an interesting way for us to look at color. In the past, we have done thicker, more opaque colors on the lip."

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There are three complementary products that Lauder considers standouts of the collection: $32 shimmering loose powder, $22 lip sheen in a subtle pink shade with gold flecks dubbed Hollywood Gold and $20 lip gloss in Hollywood Gold. She compared these products with a great camel coat or black dress in a Michael Kors collection that she described as "the bare essentials that you need."

"Hollywood glamour is the ultimate escape," said the designer during an interview at his Manhattan showroom Tuesday. "It is an emotional pull, no matter what your age — which gave us the idea for this fragrance. Everyone needs a little escape these days."

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The designer likens his first, Michael, to "the little black dress — it has classic, universal appeal," he said of the fragrance, launched in 2000. (A bridge scent called Kors launched in 2003 and is no longer sold.) His second major franchise, Island — which has included a handful of flankers since the original's 2005 launch — he compared with "a cool collection of crisp white shirts." As for Very Hollywood, "this is the indulgence. This is the gold dress!" But, he hastens to add, it's not necessarily a nighttime fragrance. "It's more of a mood," he said. "This is definitely not the customer's sporty moment."

Very Hollywood, concocted by Kors and the Estee Lauder Cos. Inc.'s Evelyn Lauder and Trudi Loren in cooperation with International Flavors & Fragrances, is a sophisticated floral. Top notes are of mandarin and iced bergamot; the heart is of wet jasmine, ylang-ylang, raspberry and gardenia, and the drydown is of Italian orris, creamy amber, soft white moss and vetiver. "This is the most glamorous, indulgent scent we've ever done," said Kors, adding that he thinks the sunny Southern California landscape adds optimism to the mix.