Rei Kawakubo’s Comme des Garçons is known for ripping tradition from its roots, flipping it on its head and using the leftovers to sew garments that truly feel authentically subversive. This ethos spills out across all aspects of the brand – ready-to-wear, accessories, beauty and the star of the brand’s latest drop, fragrance.
Odeur 10 – which released in Tokyo on November 20, will roll out in Paris on December 5 and the rest of the world on January 9 – marks the fourth instalment in the brand’s “anti-perfume” collection. Following 1998’s Odeur 53, 2000’s Odeur 71 and 2019’s Odeur du Théâtre du Châtelet, Kawakubo worked alongside visual artist and creative director Christian Astuguevieille and perfumer Natalie Gracia-Cetto to create the alternative scent. “The inspiration is hydrogen peroxide,” says Astuguevieille, “[It’s a] traditional disinfectant product that conveys a sense of extreme cleanliness, and at the same time, it’s reassuring. It’s a product that is less commonly used in our time, with a slightly nostalgic aspect as well.”
Integrating fresh notes like white mint and aldehydes for a lightness, Odeur 10 represents the concept of chemically-executed cleanliness. An untraditional anchor for a fragrance, yes, but that’s CDG for ya’. “Comme des Garçons is accustomed to using materials that aren’t traditional perfume ingredients, such as nail polish, the smell of tar, the scent of an effervescent tablet unfolding in a glass, or the smell of a garage,” says Astuguevieille. Doing something different isn’t intimidating to the brand, it’s a dab hand at it. “This is where we find our freedom and coherence,” the artist continues, referencing how the new release relates to CDG’s approach to perfumery, “being able to blend synthetic and everyday scents with remarkable raw materials in our perfume catalog.”
This catalogue Astuguevieille is discussing is also celebrating a big birthday alongside the release – 30 years of Comme Des Garçons Parfums. To mark the occasion the brand is releasing an anniversary book entitled Comme des Garçons Parfums 1994–2025. Published by Simonett & Baer, the tome includes texts from Astuguevieille, Canadian writer Denyse Beaulieu and Kawakubo’s husband Adrian Joffe, who is also president of Dover Street Market. Exploring the unique world of Comme Des Garçons fragrance, the book inspects how the scents have disrupted industry norms across the spheres of scent composition, packaging and advertising. Launching the same day the perfume gets released in Paris (December 5), discover more about the roll out here.
Photography courtesy of Comme Des Garçons.
