Yohji Homme Yohji Yamamoto 1999 Eau de Toilette

In recent weeks, Yohji Homme has steadily moved up the list of the 100 most popular perfumes for men and has even made it into the top ten. However, this high regard has only been expressed in two perfume comments so far.

While Antonia Hilke flickered across screens in the 80s, bringing the latest fashion from Paris into German living rooms several times a year, I first learned of the existence of two Japanese fashion designers - Kenzo and Yohji Yamamoto. The former stood for colorful and lively clothing, while the latter represented spartan and unembellished styles. To put it in a nutshell, Kenzo was exuberance, Yamamoto was purism. Thus, it is not surprising that the name Kenzo has a greater level of recognition than that of Yamamoto. The same goes for the distribution of the two labels (though the term "distribution" must be relativized in light of the high prices).

As is the case with any fashion label that takes itself seriously, both Kenzo and Yamamoto launched their own fragrances. To emphasize his purism, Yamamoto created a bottle in the shape of an oversized vial for his fragrance. Everything about it is straightforward, with no embellishments to distract, and all superfluous elements have been eliminated. The spray head of the bottle doesn't even have a cap. Only a horseshoe-shaped clip attached to the side flips over the spray head to prevent accidental spraying. Anyone who has tried to get their hands on a bottle of this fragrance knows what that means. I don't want to resort to the overused example of a "needle in a haystack," so I'll simply say that it is incredibly difficult to find this rarity.

By the mid-70s, traditional fougère fragrances had already peaked when Paco Rabanne gave this genre a new direction with his P.R. pour Homme. By adding Mediterranean ingredients like tarragon, rosemary, and thyme to the traditional fougère framework, he created the Aromatic Fougère.

It would take more than a decade before Yohji Yamamoto gave the genre yet another new direction. By completely forgoing animalic substances and using new aromas like coffee, licorice, and rum, he infused his fragrance with a previously unseen spice. The interplay between lavender and anise in the top note, along with licorice, cinnamon, coffee, and rum in the development, was superbly balanced and would become the precursor to the highly successful gourmand fragrances of the last 10 years.

The sweet-spicy anise dominates from the very beginning and runs through the entire fragrance progression. However, coffee, rum, and woody notes form the perfect counterbalance, preventing the fragrance from becoming a winter or even Christmas scent. The fragrance always retains its cool spice and does not drift into an overwhelming sweetness. Only the anise is unmistakable to me; all other fragrance notes are so well balanced that it would be presumptuous to claim I could pick out individual notes.

There is, however, a significant difference compared to today's popular gourmand fragrances like "L'Instant De Guerlain." Guerlain's masterpiece evokes for me the association of a "cuddle fragrance," which is never the case with Yohji Homme, thanks to its cool spice.

Immediately after spraying, the fragrance is very strong and anise-heavy, but it quickly recedes. I find the sillage to be rather moderate, but for this type of fragrance, that's better. The longevity is also not in the upper range, lasting around 6 - 8 hours, which is rather average.

Yohji Homme fascinates me as a perfume lover, but not as a wearer. I find it interesting how someone, at a time when fougères were already long out of fashion, revived this genre by incorporating unusual fragrance notes; indeed, that he was even a pioneer and/or source of inspiration for many gourmand fragrances by the end of the 90s with this scent.

Could Yohji Homme be my signature scent? I can clearly say no; it is too avant-garde for me. When I wear it, I feel that it doesn't suit me, that I am not properly dressed, pardon, perfumed. My reference fragrance remains "Gentile" by Maria Candida G. with its striking unobtrusiveness.