the scent of plants harvested just after the rain

'By creating fragrances woven in the most beautiful raw materials and melted with poetic impetus that is found in the inspired wearer, perfume can be saved from the terrible trivialization that threatens it. This is how I wrote the formula for this first perfume for Maison Martin Margiela, with that special grace that comes with the perception of the obvious, that clarity that gives us wings in the wonderful encounters of our lives.' Daniela Andrier

After 20 years of creating influential avant-garde designs, fashion house Maison Martin Margiela is launching its first fragrance. In a nod to the designer's mysteriousness (Margiela shuns the spotlight and has never shown his face to the fashion public) and unwavering no-logo fashion legacy, the scent is named Untitled.

Although Margiela himself left his eponymous fashion house in December, according to WWD the designer was very involved with the scent's creation.

Untitled is simply about the fragrance - a green/woodsy unisex scent with a strong presence. The principal element of this woody green floral is Galbanum, a fine and rare raw material. Its incisive notes are boosted with the bitterness of box green, the vibrancy of lentiscus and incense, and the smoothness of bitter orange. Like a huge armful of plants harvested just after the rain, its raw state recalling pared-down garments and hems cut open, emblematic signatures of Maison Martin Margiela. Faithful to its philosophy of metamorphosis, of finding a 'second life', Maison Martin Margiela turns this exhumed classical foundation upside down, and contrasts it with resonances of sweet jasmine and musky cedar. Its striking predigree is then edged with a dense, almost filmy warmth.

The first perfume to be produced by Maison Martin Margiela expresses and indicates, with disturbing sensuality, a unique femininity. 'I know that perfume must not follow a fashion or a trend, but an instinct. This first perfume expresses a femininity which does not fit into formal categories.' says the perfumer Daniela Andrier (Givaudan) who pays tribute to the vision of Martin Margiela and his team. She adds: 'I am grateful to Maison Martin Margiela for whispering the formular for this perfume into my ear'.

Top notes: Galbanum essence, Box green, Bitter orange blossom absolute
Middle notes: Lentiscus resinoid, Jasmine, Galbanum resinoid
Base notes: Musk, Cedar, Incense resinoid

Untitled by Maison Martin Margiela available at Selfridges, London.