The restless modernists of the 20's had the blunt industrial lines of Chanel No 5 to consecrate their age, my age has Commes Des Garcons parfums to summarize our times .CDG parfums are TRUE luxury The 90's was in many ways the apotheosis of the celebration of all things "industrial" within the confines of fashion. Remember those floor length slip dresses in griege, the covers of Harper's Bazaar lit with flourescent tubing and of course the rapid adoption of Commes des Garcons' "concrete bunker" retail aesthetic into the general store design vocabulary.That moment in fashion will always be summarized in my mind by the cold electric smell of 1993's Odeur 53, the No 5 of my 90's generation (sorry CK 1. Your love was short-lived).
I love that this will be part of the enormous legacy of Rei Kawabuko's company, that along with all the conceptual re-thinking triggered by her clothing, advertising and retail proposition (think Dover Street Market), she has also bequeathed us with fragrances that made us re:think what perfumes should be. There are some that argue that No 53 is well within a cultural tradition of non-scent scents but a massive part of the CDG fragrance revolution was the consistency of line between the innovative ethos behind the clothes and the uncompromising ethos behind the fragrance. Subsequent spin-off scents have been incredibly eclectic and unpredictable from the Incense series to No 2 and the Guerilla products.One thing was constant and that was Kawabuko's refusal to out-put a lazy and generic product. Then there was the legendary packaging by Marc Atlan that took all these classical tropes and made a remarkable comment ABOUT perfume packaging in his design approach. Next time you see me I'll be drenched in something CDG. Respect!