Immense; Concrete, Comme des Garçons

The strong smell of exhaust fumes and hot-dog vendors will fill your nostrils as crowds of people swarm past. Made from large intimidating slabs of concrete the urban jungle of New York City is never asleep. Towering skyscrapers surround you, enclose you and can sometimes intimidate you.

As an essential building material, concrete is used to pave roads, driveways and construct some of the worlds most famous architectural monuments. Although traditionally associated with Brutalism, concrete is seeing a renaissance in contemporary architecture. In 2016, South Korean architecture firm IDMM Architects and Kwak Hee Soo completed a striking collision of exposed concrete surfaces in their coastal cafe in the city of Gijang.

This extremely versatile material has also spread from our exteriors to interiors. David Adjaye has used the material to make speakers for American brand Master & Dynamic, two special collections of lights designed by Kateryna Sokolova, Mold and Oxidation, and striking furniture designed by Living Concrete continually proves that a concrete revival is among us. Is timeless quality means that concrete is considered a stylish, modern addition to our everyday lives.

Weaving its way into our homes and interiors, we can now welcome the material into our perfume collection. Unconventional label Comme des Garçons has looked to this incredible material for their latest fragrance inspiration, Concrete.

Renowned for their quirky designs, Comme des Garçons was created in Tokyo 1969, by Rei Kawakubo. In addition to their luxe clothes, the label also produces a range of unusual perfumes, with their absence of top, base and heart notes, Comme des Garçons‘s scents are without doubt, incredibly unique.

Concrete features warm, joyous notes of refreshing, spicy cardamom, cumin and clove. With additional exotic hints of sandalwood, cedar and musk and enchanting floral undertones of rose oxide and and jasmine sambac, this scent is truly distinctive.

Perhaps a huge talking point is the bottle design for this perfume, expertly made from beautifully smooth concrete with an off-kilter metal top, it is certainly one of the most unusual perfume bottles out there – and would look perfect as a statement  on your vanity table!

As Kawakubo believes, Comme des Garçons fragrances are a gift to oneself, and Concrete is no exception! You can purchase this unique scent here.