Home is a Temple

Posted by Stefano Saccani on 17/11/2009 00:00

For over 5000 years people all over the world have been burning incense in order to honour their ancestors, purify the air, symbolize the ascent of a payer, induce a meditative frame of mind, accompany a ritual, or simply to make one feel positive.

comme des garçons homage to this tradition with a series of organic incense designed to transform your house into a temple, a place where your soul can fly over mountains and see the distant seas.

First incense I introduce you is Avignon. A dry vanilla and soft Roman chamomile dull the edges of these reverent incense sticks. Beautiful, dark and mysterious, Avignon takes its place among the most talked about (and admired) of CdG's entire line.
It's the scent of gothic cathedrals and Papal palaces, of tapestries imbued with centuries of incense. Of cold marble steps, holy relics and dark confessions. The recognizable smells of frankincense and myrrh open the high mass of Avignon, giving way to the almost eye-smarting, gloriously smoky and resinous heart.


With Jaisalmer, prized Indian ebony is added to resinous guaiac hardwood at the base, while a healthy dose of spice comprises the opening.
The opposing sweet spice and earthy wood nature of this incense is a perfect salute to the gorgeous culture amidst the harsh climate of Jaisalmer itself.

Dry and calm, the cedar note in Kyoto is evident, swirling with the earthy scents of spicy, smoky vetiver and the juniper-meets-evergreen aroma of cypress.
Serene and earthbound, Kyoto's quiet power is never harsh; it's a meditative scent, bringing to mind relaxing in one of Kyoto's legendary rotenburo (outdoor hot spring baths) nestled among the legendary cypress trees.

Ouarzazate is another intresting incense. A powerful oriental fragrance with incense, pepper, nutmeg, meadow sage, wengé wood, musk, vanilla, Labdanum Absolue and Kashmir wood.
The burning of incense is one of the oldest ritual practices of mankind. The rising smoke would put shamans into a trance, seers’ inhaled the smoke so they could lapse into ecstasy, priestesses burned resins to appease the gods and even Aphrodite, the goddess of love and goddess of fragrances and aromatic plants loved the resinous incense.

Zagorsk opens with a surge of crisp pine and cedar. At its heart is an almost clean feeling… like pinecones strewn on brand-new snow on a dark winter's eve.
Pretty poetic, and so is Zagorsk. At the base is Russia's famous birch wood, but not smoky, just the memory of old, fragrant fires burned in an Orthodox church in the middle of a forest. Clear and clean with a touch of melancholy.

Comme de Garçons Incense Series invites you to partake in a spiritual journey from the temples of Kyoto, Japan, to the historical heart of Avignon, France. Over the Atlas Mountains to Ouarzazate in Morocco to the snow-covered village of Zagorsk in Russia our journey ends on the plains o Jaisalmer in India.