# Comme des Garçons — Stephen Jones Millinery

> This is the first fragrance from British milliner Stephen Jones, created in collaboration with Comme des Garcons Parfums and launched for London Fashion Week in September 2008. Composed by Givaudan's 

## Essence
This is the first fragrance from British milliner Stephen Jones, created in collaboration with Comme des Garcons Parfums and launched for London Fashion Week in September 2008. Composed by Givaudan's Antoine Maisondieu (the nose behind the Monocle/CdG Hinoki), under CdG fragrance creative director Christian Astuguevieille, it is the olfactory translation of Jones's own one-line brief: "a violet that's been hit by a meteorite," and "futuristic but rococo." The result is a cold, aldehyde-blasted, metallic-mineral violet - quintessential CdG in its willingness to weld a pretty flower to something inorganic and strange. It is decorative and innovative, difficult for the first 40 minutes, and ultimately a connoisseur's violet rather than a crowd-pleaser.
## Scent Profile
The opening is a literal firework of cold, sparkling aldehydes - described by reviewers as fireworks, twinkling nebula, a sparkling space-rock - over an immediate, scorched-violet impact. This is not the candied parma-violet of toilet water; it is a crisp, dry, iris-inflected, green-and-metallic violet, often compared to "the smell of smoldering space rocks" with a whiff of scorched wood. A dry, glassy clove threads through the heart - frequently described as the ghost of a single clove left in an empty spice jar rather than a warm spicy clove - alongside carnation, rose and indolic jasmine that "rehearse" loudly at first and then politely settle. Many wearers report a distinct synthetic "warm copier/inkjet-printer toner" accord buzzing in the background (the promised "synthesized cyber aldehyde"). The much-publicized "magma"/"meteorite" notes are conceptual; the real impression is mineral. As it dries the smoke can morph into a dry incense, and a creamy guaiac-wood softness emerges, with vetiver, amber and a faint cumin adding depth. The arc is cacophonous-cold-violet to dry-powdery-smoky-floral.
## Performance
The fairest read: a very loud, aldehyde-forward opening that mellows to a more intimate but tenacious dry-down. Either way it is not a quiet skin scent in its first hour.
## Wearing Context
Strongly unisex - repeatedly described as a fragrance that suits a personality and sense of style more than a gender. The mood is dark, gothic, Victorian, "Mad Hatter," cold-weather and evening-leaning; wearers reach for it in autumn/winter and for occasions where a deliberately strange, artistic statement is wanted. It is explicitly not a "pretty/feminine" violet (reviewers point those seeking that toward Maisondieu's own Van Cleef & Arpels Feerie instead). Think eccentric, regal, slightly eerie - an outfit accessory in scent form.
## Comparisons & DNA
The defining critical comparison comes from Tania Sanchez, who in a November 2008 Times/Sunday Times "Style" column (not in the Turin/Sanchez book guides - a frequent misattribution, with the quote confirmed verbatim via critical coverage's December 2, 2008 review) called it "Chanel No 22 with a top note of fried green peppers and overheated inkjet printer," and named it a "top new pick for women." That No. 22 lineage (aldehydes + cold florals) is the most apt DNA pin. Other touchpoints reviewers raise: Guerlain Meteorites (the violet-makeup association the brief plays on), the dry mineral base of Terre d'Hermes (for the warm-dusty-rock facet), and within CdG the synthetic-accord family of Odeur 53 / Play. Its 2014 sequel, Wisteria Hysteria (the second Jones CdG collaboration, by Nathalie Feisthauer), is the obvious sibling and is explicitly framed as the lighter, "angelic" counterpart to this darker first scent.
## Reception
Among enthusiasts this is a beloved cult oddity - "one of the most underrated fragrances in the CdG line," a "gothic" masterpiece, "Stephen Jones in a bottle." Cafleurebon, critical coverage, Sorcery of Scent and similar blogs all covered it admiringly as an edgy, well-crafted, genuinely original violet. The recurring critique is twofold: (1) the synthetic/aldehydic/soapy opening is nauseating to those who dislike aldehydes, and (2) the price-to-volume was steep for a 55ml limited edition. wearer discussion forum users debated whether late-2000s CdG (Stephen Jones, Hinoki) matched the brilliance of earlier releases like CdG 2, with some preferring the older, cheaper, larger-format scents. Net: critically respected, polarizing on skin, adored by violet/aldehyde devotees.
## Versions & Reformulation
This was a single 55ml Eau de Toilette limited edition (75 UK; roughly $150 - 175 US at launch), released for Fashion Week 2008 and now discontinued. There is no documented reformulation of the original juice. It should not be confused with later entries in the Jones CdG line: Wisteria Hysteria (2010/2014 depending on market, sometimes labeled "Stephen Jones Black," with white wisteria, pepper, frankincense, styrax) is a separate fragrance. The brand was latterly marketed via Puig. Note the database mess: wearers/wearers carry overlapping "Stephen Jones" and "Stephen Jones Millinery" entries for what is effectively the same 2008 release, and note lists vary (some include "clover," "meteorite," "magma," "black cumin").
## Acquisition Notes
As a discontinued 2008 limited edition, acquisition is now a secondary-market exercise - full 55ml bottles surface on eBay and from discontinued-stock specialists, and decant houses (e.g., perfumeniche, Fragrance Vault) have offered samples and splits. Prices have risen with its cult status; the distinctive presentation (a jet-black miniature hatbox, the translucent black "ink-bottle" flacon repurposed from an 1890s design, a grosgrain ribbon and "merry widow" veil netting) makes complete boxed examples especially collectible. Sample before committing - the aldehydic opening is genuinely divisive - but the packaging alone is part of the appeal.
## Notable Facts & Lore
- The origin story is irresistible: Jones and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons reportedly met by chance at Anchorage airport in the mid-1980s and collaborated for decades before this 2008 scent.
- Jones rose from London's late-70s "ex-punk"/Blitz Kids scene - bankrolled in his first Covent Garden hat shop (Endell Street, 1980) by Visage singer and Blitz Club owner Steve Strange - and is widely regarded as one of the most important living milliners, having made hats for the British royal family and Vivienne Westwood's tweed crown.
- Jones framed millinery as "closer to fragrance than fashion...
- an evocation of something nebulous, ephemeral, and otherworldly." The bottle, an 1890s ink-bottle silhouette in black glass with veil netting, deliberately echoes his hatmaking.
- The "magma," "meteorite" and "synthesized cyber aldehyde" notes were as much marketing poetry as formula - but, as several reviewers noted, the cold mineral-violet effect genuinely delivers on the meteorite metaphor.