Comme Des Garcons Avignon (2002)

“Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”

Easter Sunday.  A young altar server wearing dull leather shoes, scratchy pants, and a pressed shirt under a drab parchment robe.  He participates in mass willingly but does not fully comprehend the promises made.  The fumes rising from the censer clear his sinuses, but also sting his throat.  Winter turns to Spring, and a sense of hope is always present in this small parish.  The penitent will be rewarded, and the wicked punished.  Perhaps.

“Take this, all of you, and drink from it.  For this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.  It will be shed for you and for all in forgiveness of sins.  Do this in memory of me.”

The congregation disperses, but the altar server is haunted by the incense – even long after faith is replaced by reason.

Photo: Ajuntament de Sant Vicenç de Montalt

Comme des Garcons released the five fragrances known as Series 3: Incense in 2002.  The brand had already established a reputation for the avant-garde in both fashion and fragrance under founder Rei Kawakubo.  The first few perfume releases from the house arrived in bottles resembling alien escape pods and were suggestive of potpourri, squid ink, and candle wax.  In short, they were pretty brilliant. With Series 3, Comme des Garcons set out to capture the use of incense by practitioners of the world’s prevailing religions: Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Orthodox Christianity.  All five fragrances in the series are clever renditions of burning resins, and the line has developed an ardent cult following.  Avignon may be the most celebrated fragrance of the five and it offers a penetrating approximation of the incense used during Catholic mass.

There is an initial suggestion of minerality and citrus peel that resembles chilled Sancerre. Otherwise, however, the perfume in this ebony bottle is fittingly cold, solemn, nearly astringent.  There is a cedar-like aspect to Avignon, almost akin to the sensation of entering a traditional sauna, which seems intended to evoke the feel of varnished wooden pews in an aging sanctuary.  A small dose of patchouli reminds us of our earthly tethers and a subtle vanilla base note offers some reprieve from the dominant incense accord.  Be not deceived - the overriding impression of Avignon is that of charred frankincense.  The resin here is nearly ashen, a whisper of a ritual recently completed.  It conjures images of ornate vestments, leather-bound texts, and genuflecting parishioners.  The incense at the heart of Avignon cleanses both body and soul.  It venerates, it sanctifies.  It feels almost hyper-realistic and may thus be an affront to certain sensibilities.  If you are uninterested in smelling like high mass, this perfume may not be for you.

However, Avignon also encompasses a compelling dark side – the mirror image of its holy origins.  The perfume is equally suggestive of the sinister and the sad.  It is either ironic or entirely appropriate that this liturgical fragrance is redolent of the poets of dark pop and goth music: Robert Smith, Siouxsie Sioux, Andrew Eldritch, and Trent Reznor all spring to mind. It has been reported that Morrisey adopted Avignon as his signature scent at some point in time.  The arresting qualities of this incense can provoke an expression of faith, or lamentation of the loss of faith.  There is a longing in Avignon, a desire to recover some sense of comfort or peace that has been absent.  There is still hope, but doubt casts a long shadow.

Even if you are unmoved by the ceremonial aspect of the fragrance, it stands as a reference point among incense-themed perfumes.  Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour, who has earned a reputation as a master of resinous scents, offers us a stark and precise portrait of sacramental incense.  To be enjoyed by both saints and sinners alike.