A chat with Yulia Mahr at the launch of Max Richter's debut perfume
The perfume composed by Max Richter with Comme des Garcons
Although I originally set out to experience Max Richter’s debut fragrance—the one dreamed up with Comme des Garçons—in the end, I found myself deep in conversation with his wife, the artist Yulia Mahr, whose installation transformed the courtyard of Dover Street Market Paris. But before I get swept up in that encounter and the spell of her artwork, I want to ground us in the scent itself, and the way it quietly unsettled me.
This isn’t your typical perfume launch. Adrian Joffe, who knows a thing or two about the avant-garde, puts it plainly: they wanted to “evoke memories you may not know of yet—lost or future ones.” And you really do feel it—there’s this initial, unfamiliar flicker of Cade, Cumin, and Ylang Ylang, a blend that’s aromatic and a little bit haunting. Then comes the unexpected warmth at the heart: Black Pepper, Pimento Berries, Tagetes—everything rich and earthy. It finally settles on cedarwood, vetiver, and patchouli, leaving a trace that’s strange, magnetic, and strangely comforting. The effect is lingering: a perfume not so much worn as inhabited, the scent hanging in the space between who you were and who you might become.
Which feels fitting, considering Richter’s music is all about those liminal moments—the diaries and lullabies, silences and crescendos. This fragrance becomes another kind of diary, and somehow, it does what music often can’t: it makes memory tangible, wearable.
Only after I let the notes settle did I find myself in Yulia Mahr’s company. She is emphatic that she had no hand in the making of the fragrance itself, though her influence is inescapable—her art installation in the courtyard is both an echo and a complement to Richter’s work, another strength in this collaborative circle. Their creative harmony is palpable, but the exhibition, “The Church Of Our Becoming,” is hers alone—a separate provocation that nonetheless resonates with the perfume’s own questions about memory, becoming, and belonging.
Everything about this project asks you to linger, to reconsider the boundaries between scent, art, and emotion. But first, it asks you to notice: to breathe in, let the perfume take hold, and feel what stirs before the conversation begins.
As a little postscript, there’s something else worth mentioning: I’m not sure if the accompanying book, “The Hinterland of the Senses – Comme des Garçons Parfum composed by Max Richter,” is officially for sale, but at the opening, it was gifted to us. Inside, there’s a thoughtful and illuminating conversation between Max Richter and Adrian Joffe that took place in London this past May, along with a collection of photographs, inspirations, and the full story behind how the perfume came to be. It’s essential reading if you want to truly understand the soul of this collaboration—an intimate look at the creative process and the ideas that shaped both the scent and the surrounding art. If you’re considering buying the perfume, I’d highly recommend asking about the book as well; it adds another beautiful layer to the experience.
Name: Max Richter 01 Eau de Toilette by Comme des Garçons Parfums
Price: 130 € / £120 / $160 / ¥22,000
Size: 100ml
Art Exhibition: “The Church Of Our Becoming” series by Yulia Mahr, at Dover Street Market Paris courtyard through August 24
Core Team: Creative director Christian Astuguevieille, perfumer Guillaume Flavigny, designer Zak Kyes