Dalton Maldonado, a high school basketbal player who was cut from his class yearbook last year for being gay, now has his picture adorning the label of a fragrance inspired by his story.

Xyrena has launched Formula 3 – and a portion of the revenue from the fragrance sales will benefit You Can Play, an organization that supports LGBT athletes.

Promoting Change

Maldonado, now 19, became the subject of attention in Kentucky last year when his basketball team was playing in a rural area, and he was harrassed by members of the opposing team. He had to endure bullying, along with offensive comments. Despite the fact that his teammates supported him, his photo was omitted from his high school yearbook. Since then he has received worldwide support from the public and media including celebrities and fellow athletes.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Dalton on this fragrance launch,” said Killian Wells, CEO of Xyrena. “He’s a brave young man. We want to reward his courage and sportsmanship by helping him share his story through an innovative product release.”

Maldonado commented, “At certain moments in our lives, we are compelled to be messengers of change. I’m grateful to be able to work on this fragrance opportunity with Xyrena because of its potential to support and inspire fellow athletes in the LGBT community.”

The Scent & The Packaging

The Formula 3 fragrance is named after Maldonado’s jersey number. It is a unisex scent, described as “fresh, clean and athletic,” with top notes of grapefruit, star anise, and bergamot; middle notes of grass and ozone, and base notes of cotton flower and musk.

The bottle is colored “basketball orange”. In a fitting tribute, Xyrena’s initial plan was to use Dalton’s omitted yearbook photo for the bottle’s label. However, the yearbook photographer refused to allow use of the image, so the bottle features a metallic gold trading card inspired design, plus a photo by Mandy Stumbo Photography.