Comme des Garçons has launched their fifth fragrance in collaboration with Monocle magazine, Scent Five: Syros. (Scent One: Hinoki launched in 2008, followed by Scent Two: Laurel in 2009, Scent Three: Sugi in 2013 and Scent Four: Yoyogi in 2019…)
Pushing creative boundaries
Pushing creative boundaries over the last three decades has also at times come with pushback. “We didn't expect such an initial rejection of the Pebble bottle. Nobody wanted a bottle that didn’t stand up. Of course, there was a hard core contingent who loved it immediately, but it took decades for it to become the iconic bottle it is today,” [Adrian] Joffe said.
— Read more in Comme des Garçons: Mastering the Art of Disruptive yet Commercially Viable Fragrance Since 1994 at BeautyMatter.
Very beautiful things are, to us, suspicious
[Rei Kawakubo] is interested in smells, rather than the business of perfume, a distinction pressed by Comme des Garçons Parfums’ creative director Christian Astuguevieille, who says he doesn’t like things that are ‘too beautiful’ or ‘excessive’ in their beauty. ‘Very beautiful things are, to us, suspicious, boring and unsettling. The concept of Comme des Garçons Parfums is defined without the notion of beauty.’
— Read more in A Comme des Garçons perfume is not ‘beautiful’ at Wallpaper.
I sprayed it randomly
I would not have thought to wear the perfume to attract or to feel virile as most other brands attempt. I would have worn it to feel comfort. I remember it smelt like a skin to me; leathery, woody and not the usual ingredients that define a perfume. Often, I sprayed it randomly and not only on my skin, but also on clothes.
— Photographer Richard Burbridge on Comme des Garçons 2 Man. Read more in Seven Comme Des Garçons Devotees on the Brand’s “Anti-Perfume” Scents at AnOther.
The daily lemming
A lemming for serious fans of Comme des Garçons: the new coffee-table book, Comme des Garçons Parfums 1994-2025, written by Dino Simonett. "Comme des Garçons Parfums is happy to celebrate its thirty years of excellent and progressive scents and design. The entire collection of pebbles, series, special editions and collaborations is presented here for the first time, together with the packaging and hilarious printed matter. Never the same twice, never looking back. From the still irresistible „Eau de Parfum“ (1994) to the futuristic eau oxygénée „Odeur 10“ (2024), the wild bunch is united in a thick book with large images, printed in brilliant colours on thick paper: Comme pour les enfants, de grandes enfants comme nous!" €125 for the threadbound paperback directly from the publisher, Simonett & Baer.