# Comme des Garçons — Daphne > Daphne is a 2009 collaboration between Comme des Garcons and the British fashion eccentric and heiress Daphne Guinness, composed by Antoine Lie. It is deliberately the opposite of CdG's usually auster ## Essence Daphne is a 2009 collaboration between Comme des Garcons and the British fashion eccentric and heiress Daphne Guinness, composed by Antoine Lie. It is deliberately the opposite of CdG's usually austere, conceptual catalog: a maximalist, vintage-lady floriental built around a huge candied tuberose wrapped in CdG's signature incense, with saffron, bitter orange and oud crowding the edges. The result reads like a spice market in a bottle - crowded, theatrical, with no quiet phase. ## Scent Profile The wear experience is front-loaded with intensity. The opening hits immediately with a tart, edgy bitter orange - often likened to marmalade - fused to a deep, resinous incense; the two share a sweet-tart quality that locks them together. Saffron is unusually prominent here, a strong, bitter, leathery thread that holds its own against the white flowers. The heart is a narcotic, buttery tuberose, often described as gum-like or bubblegum-sweet. Where cooler, sharper tuberoses like Carnal Flower or Fracas can read mentholated, Daphne's reads warm, candied and balmy. Jasmine adds animalic depth, rose rounds it out, and iris lends a powdery lift that keeps the sweetness from going syrupy. The drydown settles into a jasmine, tuberose and woody-amber base, with smoky incense persisting and a waxy, honeyed sweetness underneath. Some wearers note a soapy or stale wobble mid-development before the incense rallies. After the opening shift - roughly orange to incense to tuberose - the fragrance is largely linear and stays put. The signature accord is candied tuberose over dry, dusty church incense. ## Performance This is a powerhouse. Longevity is above average, with the incense lingering on clothing into the next day and the scent reported still going strong at the six-hour mark. Projection runs good to loud. Restraint is the watchword on application: a single dab at the pulse points, or spraying into the air and walking through it, is the common advice - two full sprays is widely considered one too many. ## Wearing Context Daphne is a cool-weather, evening and statement fragrance; its density and sweetness can become smothering in heat, though a desert-dry warmth suits it well. It is not an office or safe scent - it is dress-up, artistic and going-out. Though marketed feminine, it wears comfortably unisex and reads well on men, carried by its incense-saffron-oud spine. Reach for it when you want to be noticed and don't mind polarizing. ## Comparisons & DNA The clearest DNA link is to Antoine Lie's own Etat Libre d'Orange Rien (2006); Persolaise ties the two together as earthy, leathery and enormous enough to make Angel or Poison seem timid. CdG Avignon supplies the same dusty incense backbone but without the floral excess. Among tuberose landmarks, Frederic Malle Carnal Flower and Robert Piguet Fracas are the standard contrasts - both cooler and sharper, where Daphne is warm and candied. Amouage Lyric shares the rose-incense-spice opulence. No designer clone exists, and it is widely described as unique. ## Reception Polarizing is the defining word. Devotees call it a millefiori masterpiece and a ride-or-die signature, praising its complexity, vintage construction, the orange-incense opening, its longevity and its sheer uniqueness. Detractors find it cloying, muddy or bubblegum-sweet, and single out the difficult mid-development. The axis of disagreement is sweetness and density: the same richness that reads as glamorous-vintage to one nose reads as old-fashioned or frumpy to another. The critic Katie Puckrik captured the swing herself, moving from swoon to dismissal and back. Almost everyone agrees on one thing: sample before buying, because the result is intensely skin-dependent. ## Versions & Reformulation Daphne launched in 2009 as a 50 ml eau de parfum and nothing else, in a tiny initial run of around 5,000 copies, debuting at Dover Street Market London in early September and worldwide later that month. It was then shelved and discontinued before becoming available again around 2023, a return that was widely welcomed. It has been marketed most recently by Puig. There is no documented reformulation of the juice itself; the on-again, off-again availability is the only real version story. ## Acquisition Notes Daphne exists in a single format, a 50 ml eau de parfum. It launched around $140 and later listed from roughly $150, placing it in the accessible-niche price tier. Because of its discontinuation and re-release cycles it has at times been hard to find, and secondary-market prices fluctuate accordingly; decants and samples are widely available and are the sensible way to test it first. No widespread counterfeit reporting is documented, as it is a low-volume niche release rather than a mass-market target. ## Notable Facts & Lore - Daphne was Daphne Guinness's first fragrance; she is an heiress to the Guinness brewing fortune and a fixture on best-dressed lists. - Guinness's brief was to evoke her favorite places - France, Spain and the Middle East - which explains the around-the-world spice-market profile. - Antoine Lie describes his work in sculptural terms, wanting a scent to project a distinct shape in the air - a useful lens for Daphne's room-filling structure. - A short making-of film was produced to accompany the launch. - The shared name with the famous stout drew plenty of affectionate comment at release.