Comme des Garçons Parfums

Smell has the power to take you anywhere; place or time, conjuring memories and emotions that you never imagined lying locked within your mind. Since 1994 and the release of ‘Comme des Garcons Original’ with its warming notes of clove and cinnamon, Comme des Garcons Parfums have gone on to release more than 40 fragrances, as diverse and conceptual as their clothing sub-brands.

Unsurprisingly for a brand which only launched an official website in 2010, Comme des Garcons Parfums remains shrouded in mystery adding to the allure; from ‘White’ which was devised to connote feelings of a cloud to ‘888’ – if gold had a smell. With Series’ such as ‘Incense’ that transport you from the Palais des Papes and the medieval seat of the French Popes to Pagoda’s in Kyoto, the wearer is not only taken into a ‘concept’, but invited into the physical spaces where Comme des Garcons gather their inspiration. It’s no surprise with clothing collections that range from the avant-garde ‘Homme Plus’ to Junya Watanabe and PLAY – whose namesake Parfum was devised by Aurelien Guichard, the perfumer behind some of the most commercially successful fragrances of the 21st century – that diversity is key.

Following a period of ‘anti-fragrance’ creation; where using no natural ingredients mean that everything from dust burning on a light bulb to ‘Tar’ can be found in a bottle, more recently Collaboration has been on the Comme des Garcons Parfums agenda. Projects with ARTEK architect studios in Helsinki – where pencil shaving notes form the scent – to Monocle magazine’s Tyler Brûlé as he takes a bath in Japan or visits friends in their Lebanese Garden, mean it’s really just a question of imagination.