Of the first fragrances from Le Labo the one that was the most interesting did in fact have the named note front and center but the other ingredients definitely were there to keep it off balance. This fragrance is Rose 31 by perfumer Daphne Bugey.
With the release in 2005 of Dior Homme the idea that “woods are for boys and florals are for girls” was broken with a floral fragrance marketed to men which featured a new masculine floral as its focal point.
Laurice Rahme has managed to find some of the best perfumers to work under her creative direction. In 2005 she found a rising star in Aurelien Guichard and gave him the task of interpreting Bond No. 9 Chinatown.
Comme des Garcons 2 Man was my first lesson that the boundaries which framed a perfumer’s ingredient choices were truly unlimited because the truly innovative, like Mark Buxton, will find ways to make the unloved, lovely.
