Chanel Comete, Frederic Malle Acne Studios, Serge Lutens La Fille Tour De Fer reviews – 2024

It was time to roll out the big guns over on YouTube the other day, with new releases from Chanel (Comete), Frederic Malle (Acne Studios) as well as Serge Lutens (La Fille Tour De Fer). I also talked about a couple of vintage gems: the original Oscar De La Renta edt and YSL Rive Gauche. Here are links to all the videos, and for further thoughts on the perfumes, please keep scrolling: Chanel Comete review — Editions De Parfums Frederic Malle Acne Studios review — Serge Lutens La Fille Tour De Fer review — vintage Oscar De La Renta edt and YSL Rive Gauche review.

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Acne Studios (composed by Suzy Le Helley) is easily one of the most perplexing things Malle has ever given us. Smelling it feels like walking past someone who uses Lenor as a body lotion, but whether that renders the perfume a shriek-inducing failure or a work of conceptual daring remains up for debate. From my knowledge of Acne, the scent is faithful to the aesthetic of the brand, so in that sense, it has to be seen as a success. But as an expression of where the future of perfumery might take us, it’s more than a little frightening, with its mega-dose of aldehydes and its deliberately super-synthetic profile. Having said all that, I must also applaud the fact that it’s turning out to be pretty divisive, which is always a thumbs up in my book. Indeed, Madame Persolaise has declared that she finds it delightfully powdery, warm and inviting. So go figure. I wouldn’t be surprised if in December, I’m still torn about whether to keep the bottle at arm’s length or include it on my list of the best scents of the year.

Serge Lutens is up to his usual inter-textual shenanigans. His La Fille Tour De Fer makes a reference to both La Fille De Berlin and La Vierge De Fer, and, in terms of its inspiration and smell, to YSL Paris. Thankfully, the perfume stands up to all this tricksiness, giving us a relatively abstract rose that develops from peppery to mildly fruity-jammy in a way many modern, linear releases tend to avoid. Perhaps Lutens and his long-standing perfumer, Christopher Sheldrake, are trying to bring about a return to the less figurative compositions of the past. We live in hope.

It’s to Chanel’s credit that they’ve made us wait quite a few years for their new Exclusif, Comete, put together by Olivier Polge; it suggests that they genuinely take their time over the scents in this category of their roster. (They deserve somewhat less credit for increasing their prices again, but then every single brand seems to be doing so at the moment.) As Le Lion was always going to be a tough act to follow, they haven’t even tried, opting instead to go for the cooler, more cerebral aesthetics of No. 19 Poudre, 1932 and 1957. Perhaps we didn’t need another iris from the brand, but Comete‘s presentation of the note — alongside the dry bitterness of heliotrope and plush musks — makes for an intriguing blend of the welcoming and the austere. I’m thoroughly enjoying getting to know it better.

Finally, reading Michael Edwards‘ superb new American Legends caused me to seek out the original Oscar De La Renta from 1977, composed by Jean-Louis Sieuzac. A heavenly descendant of L’Heure Bleue, it shimmers with the glow of ambery florals. If only it had been a touch louder… but then, that’s probably just my crass, 21st century preferences talking. Equally bewitching, albeit in an edgier, more urbane way, is the 1970 version of YSL Rive Gauche, by Michel Hy and Jacques Polge. A silvery, aldehydic rose par excellence, it is the quintessence of chic.

Persolaise

[Samples of the Chanel, Frederic Malle and Serge Lutens were provided by the brands in 2024; the rest were obtained by me.]

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