The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
I Love YY arrives in 2019 as one of Antonio Gardoni's most direct compositions, surprising for a perfumer whose work tends toward density and provocation. The name itself is an abbreviation, pointing to something personal without spelling it out. Ylang-ylang takes center stage here, not as a supporting floral but as the main structural material, a fleshy, golden bloom that Gardoni builds around rather than decorates. The fragrance was commissioned, according to brand accounts, shortly after Gardoni had established his reputation for uncompromising scent architecture with earlier works like MEM and Noun. I Love YY represents something of a lateral move: same intellectual ambition, different emotional register, warmer, more immediately seductive, but no less considered. The title leaves interpretation open, which is entirely in keeping with a house that prefers to let the work speak first.
What makes I Love YY structurally unusual is how Gardoni handles the ylang-ylang, typically a note associated with tropical lushness and sweet creaminess. Here, it arrives already tanned and muscled, its banana-grape facets pushed hard enough to almost overwhelm the composition before the tonka bean intervenes. That intervention is the interesting part. The tonka doesn't soften the ylang-ylang so much as rough it up, introducing a roasted, slightly musty cocoa-dust quality that one reviewer compared to damp cardboard doused in dark chocolate. It's an unlikely pairing that shouldn't work and somehow does.
The evolution
The opening hits immediately with ylang-ylang, not a polite introduction but a declaration. Grapefruit zests the top with a brief citrus brightness before the ylang-ylang asserts itself, dense and golden and commanding. Thirty minutes in, the violet leaf emerges alongside jasmine and rose, adding a cooler floral layer that tempers the tropical heat without suppressing it. The musty cocoa note from the tonka bean becomes more distinct here, roasted, slightly animalic, an unexpected seam running through the sweetness. By the second hour, benzoin and vanilla take over, transforming the composition into a warm amber that sits close to the skin but projects steadily. The cedar arrives last, dry and quiet, offering structure where the sweetness had been. On fabric, this fragrance outlasts most, easily six to eight hours with moderate sillage. The next morning, a faint amber-vanilla warmth remains, soft and intimate, like skin warmed by sleep.
Cultural impact
Among niche collectors, I Love YY occupies an unusual position within the Bogue catalogue, one of the house's most immediately accessible fragrances, while still carrying Gardoni's characteristic density and intensity. Where works like MEM and Maai demand something from the wearer, I Love YY extends an invitation first. The fragrance has attracted wearers who appreciate the Bogue philosophy but found earlier releases too challenging. Community reception is warm, with particular praise for the ylang-ylang's bold presence and the tonka's unexpected cocoa character. It's been compared to a more approachable cousin of the house's denser work, still unmistakably Bogue, but with softer elbows.
