The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
L'Elixir Edition Noel 2013 arrived as a limited holiday release, part of the Pleats Please collection. The bottle features silver decorations that accentuate the elegant symmetry of the flacon. Aurélien Guichard composed this EDP to capture the essence of soft, movable fabric, a fragrance that feels intimate and body-warm rather than filling a room.
The magic of the elixir enhances the structure of the heart, accentuating notes of sweet peas and romantic peony embraced by powerful white flowers. Soft heliotrope makes the composition cuddly while gardenia provides its creamy form. The base ensures depth through vanilla, patchouli, and precious cedar. This is intimate wear, made for someone who doesn't need to announce themselves.
The evolution
The opening announces gardenia and heliotrope in soft, powdery harmony. Sweet pea and peony arrive next, bringing a delicate floral sweetness that feels intimate rather than bold. The drydown settles into vanilla, patchouli, and cedar, a warm, woody finish that lingers close to the skin and lasts 8-10 hours on most skin types. The sillage stays moderate throughout, which is precisely the point.
Cultural impact
The Pleats Please line by Issey Miyake began as a line of clothing, but the brand's minimalist ethos extended into fragrance with the same folded, sculptural aesthetic. The 2013 Limited Holiday Edition carried this philosophy into perfume, with its fluted bottle and seasonal colorway reflecting the same attention to form as the garments. Gardenia and heliotrope were newer notes for the Pleats Please collection, expanding its floral vocabulary while keeping the signature soft, close-to-skin character intact.
The House
Issey MiyakeIssey Miyake, the Japanese designer who built his Tokyo studio in 1970, reshaped fashion with pleated textiles and minimalist construction. His fragrance arm, launched in 1992 with L'Eau d'Issey, translated that same reductionist vision into scent. Water became the guiding metaphor. The original women's fragrance, composed by Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, drew its identity from purity and stillness, offering a counterpoint to the richness of the decade before. An international best-seller followed, winning a Fragrance Foundation FiFi award in 1993. The men's version arrived two years later. Miyake's scent portfolio eventually grew to more than a hundred references, yet the house has never abandoned the elemental clarity that made the name.
The Creator
Aurélien GuichardAurélien's style could be described as refined and elegant, with a focus on natural ingredients. He often uses roses, a nod to his family's history, but he isn't limited by tradition.
