Ever since Christian Dior spun-off Miss Dior into Miss Dior Cherie and Chanel transformed Coco into the top selling Coco Mademoiselle, the fragrance industry has seen a plethora of flankers. Flankers are new formulations of a familiar fragrance with enough of the original DNA present to be identifiable and enough new ingredients to make you think you want to own it in addition to the original. Summer editions have been a particularly fertile ground for flankers; Calvin Klein has released summer editions of ckONE since 2004 and Eternity since 2006. In both of these cases the fragrances are recognizably related to the parent perfume but they are usually lighter in composition and meant to be worn in the heat. The most tried and true way to accomplish this is to amp up the citrus notes particularly in the top. Sometimes a summer edition will go the other way and actually made things a little more intense perhaps thinking of something to be worn on those summer evenings.
Flanker has been a dirty word for many fragrance lovers. Celebrities and brands have churned out so many, the good ones can get lost in all the clutter.The best thing about this group of summer mens' flankers is they didn’t choose to just throw some citrus in and re-label. There are some interesting choices about how to make these fragrances warm-weather ready.
Thierry Mugler A*Men Sunessence Summer Storm
A*Men is one of the most recognizable men’s fragrances out there, the chocolate and patchouli base has almost become iconic. Thierry Mugler is wise in that in every flanker of A*Men they don’t tamper with that. In A*Men Sunessence Summer Storm they bring out the requisite citrus in the form of lemon but it is paired with a grouping of ozonic notes to give that summer storm feel. While I am not sure that any bottle that says A*Men on it will ever be described as light this is the lightest of the group of A*Men flankers and as close as you’re going to get to an A*Men you will want to wear at high noon.
Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Stimulating Summer Fragrance
As with A*Men, Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male is also most different at the top before developing to the lavender and vanilla core that those who wear Le Male regularly will recognize. The top is a mix of three refreshing spices; mint, ginger, and ginseng. These are in keeping with the heavier spices in the original but instead going towards the lighter side of the spice cabinet. Overall this is a different take on adding some lightness to a summer flanker and does make this version feel perfect for a day out strolling the boardwalk.
John Varvatos Artisan Black
Editor's Fave Rodrigo Flores-Roux follows up the original John Varvatos Artisan with this sequel a year later, John Varvatos Artisan Black. M. Flores-Roux’s fragrances have been pretty solid to spectacular examples of designer perfume composition. His particular fluency with citrus notes made Artisan one of the more disappointing fragrances, for me, of 2009 as the citrus there never seemed to coalesce into a complete fragrance on my skin. I was pretty sure he couldn’t disappoint me twice. Artisan Black takes the architecture of Artisan and fleshes it out into a much more complete fragrance so that in comparison to the original, Artisan Black seems like the more creative composition, seemingly M. Flores-Roux had a freer hand. Starting with a mix of green and citrus followed by spice in the heart to end at wood and leather, Artisan Black is the most sensual of the lot; not for the heat of day, but for the HOT summer nights.
Issey Miyake L’Eau D’Issey pour Homme Summer EDT
L’Eau D’Issey pour Homme is one of my favorite light summer citrus scents and I was very interested to see what a summer flanker of that would smell like. The choice for this 2010 edition was to intensify the citrus opening with the addition of yuzu and mandarin orange which give an added tartness to the normal opening. The choice of adding cardamom and sage to the heart adds an unusual nuance to this summer version and a more prominent vetiver in the base really changes the character of this fragrance from the parent. After the initial citrus burst at the top this feels very different from the original in a good way. It is a solid alternative to L’Eau D’Issey pour Homme if you’re looking for a change of pace this summer.
As I said in the opening Calvin Klein has released yearly summer versions of Eternity for Men, well for an eternity. This year’s model chooses to push the fruit envelope, for men, as the opening is a Carmen Miranda fruit basket of tropical notes. Citrus, kumquat, and pineapple lead a sweet fruity charge. The heart goes lightly woody with gaiac before getting more intensely woody with cedar at the close.This is the summer flanker that smells the least like the parent and that makes it interesting but begs the question why not just give it a new name? It is very lightly woody after the fruity start and the lighter woods make this a nice summer choice.
This group of summer flankers seem to be more focused on adding some spice to for a little warm-weather zip and I appreciate that choice. In the past these summer fragrances usually felt like citrus blankets thrown over the original. The best of the 2010 crop seem to have received a little more thought. I don’t think any of these will necessarily win new converts to their cause but if you like the parents you are very likely to enjoy the summer stepchildren.
-Marke Behnke, Managing Editor