I don't do hats, so I know next to nothing about British milliner Stephen Jones. The Telegraph says “he is the best in the business”*, and I'll have to take their word for it. Jones reportedly met designer Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons by chance in the Anchorage airport back in the 1980s**, and they've collaborated (on hats and whatnot, presumably) since then. The Comme des Garçons + Stephen Jones fragrance debuted earlier this year, and Jones' description of the scent — “futuristic but rococo” and “a violet that's been hit by a meteorite” — along with the perfect, just-like-a-hat packaging, placed it at the top of my “must smell” list.
The juice was developed by perfumer Antoine Maisondieu, who also did the wonderful Comme des Garçons Hinoki fragrance for Monocle magazine earlier this year, and I'm happy to report that it's exactly as advertised, in fact, if “a violet that's been hit by a meteorite” appeals to you, you'd probably do just as well to stop reading now and get yourself a sample…
