Consider it the designer scent for your designer sunday’s best.

Milanese fashion house has launched a line of laundry detergents, Aspesi’s detersivo (detergent) and ammorbidente (softener), so that fashionistas with deep pocket can now add whiffs of designer chic to their spin cycle. Marketed like perfumes, the detergents and softeners are named No. 1 (a whiff of exotic incense) and No.2 (a burst of floral euphoria), all bottled in cutely designed bottles designed by Dirk Van Dooren of UK superstar design group Tomato.

Designer detergents should naturally come with designer price tags. Each bottle costs 12 euros (24 SGD) a pop, two to three times the price of regular detergents. But one is not really sure if the price is justified. Is it kinder to delicate fabrics? Does it keep your Armani’s black dark as the night? Is it kinder to the environment? There is not much information on the net except for a few bloggers gushing about the designer bottle. Emperor’s new detergents, anyone?

To up its designer branding, Monocle magazine reported that Aspesi has even roped in Yohji Yamamoto to collaborate on a new detergent, very simply marketed as Y’s Aspesi.

I can’t help but wonder, what else can the industry come up with to dig into your recession-shaken pocket? Gold-plated designer hangers? Designer starch from Paul Smith? Designer colour-safe bleaches from Kenzo? Eco-friendly organic detergent from Stella McCartney?

While on the subject of ‘laundry with a conscience’, albeit on a different and eco-friendlier note..

I recently came across a laundry ball by Greenpeas, which sells at Curiocity, that lets you clean your laundry without harmful detergents. Just throw the ball into the laundry and on contact with water, the bio-ceramic ball  creates ionised water molecules that produces PH friendly surfactants which cleans and removes stains and dirt.

At 80 dollars a pop, the ball can be used for up to a 1000 washes. I have not tried it yet. But I do think it will take a complete overhaul of the mindset before it will be fully accepted. Would you love a pail of fresh laundry that doesn’t smell like it’s been clean yet? I wonder. And i do love the smell of freshly laundered clothes.