Smells Like Acne Studios

Smell is the most feral of the human senses; scent provokes an instinctual and immediate reaction in us, and can be both natural and contrived. Humans secrete it, and bottle it too. Our own individual scents form part of our identity; fragrance is incredibly personal, but it is also what attracts, or repels, those around us.

Since 1996, Acne Studios have been carving out a visual identity framed around personal, one-of-a-kind style, eventually changing their acronym to Ambition to Create Novel Expressions. Now, the brand worn by Kylie Jenner, Rosaliá and Kendrick Lamar, have launched their debut fragrance.

Fragrance, writer Lee C. Wallick proclaimed back in 2010 for SHOWstudio, can be defined as 'the seemingly invisible side of fashion that makes so much of the industry go-round...scent is absolutely part of what makes a body fashionable... by nature or by design'. It's an essential part of brand world-building, so what does Acne Studios smell like?

Notorious perfumer Frédéric Malle lent his expertise to the brand's debut fragrance project under founder and creative director Jonny Johansson, to create a scent that smells wonderfully subjective and malleable to different noses which come its way. Acne Studios and Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle came up with what they call a neoclassical perfume, composed by perfumer Suzy Le Helley; it's at once familiar but revolutionary, a soapy fresh then floral. Just like clothes, you sense you can wear it your own way.