Take a look at the output of the Issey Miyake perfume house — it’s mostly a long string of flankers and variations on 1993’s L’Eau d’Issey. I included L’Eau d’Issey in 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell, but let’s face it: some classic perfumes smell better with every passing year, others, eventually, just smell dated. In the case of L’Eau d’Issey, I wholeheartedly second Tania Sanchez when she says it “reminds us mostly of Windex now”.¹ The brand did make a recent attempt to find a new pillar with 2009’s A Scent By Issey Miyake, a nicely done if not terrifically exciting fragrance. I liked it well enough but it failed to steal my heart, and as near as I can tell, it did not come close to threatening L’Eau d’Issey’s status as the cash cow of the Issey Miyake brand.

So, on to the new Pleats Please, developed by perfumer Aurelien Guichard. I adored the bottle² as soon as I saw it, and I adored it even more in person than I did in pictures (it usually works the other way around). The advertising is likewise perfect (here’s the commercial if you missed it). So I had sort of high hopes, tempered by the news that it was a fruity floral with pear.³ I also had a long wait; as so often happens now, we stood by while Pleats Please launched everywhere in the world but the United States…

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