The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Mark Buxton became famous for his extraordinary creations for Comme des Garçons, a house he is the perfumer most associated with. For his contribution to Project Renegades, launched in 2016, he brought that same precision to a different brief: no brief at all. Project Renegades was conceived by three independent perfumers who decided to work alongside each other without a unified direction. Buxton, alongside Geza Schoen and Bertrand Duchaufour, was free to pursue whatever caught his attention. His attention landed on smoke, leather, and rose, layered with a sharpness that cuts through the warmth. The result is a composition that treats contrast as its central argument, cool green aromatics meeting warm resin and spice at every turn.
What makes this composition worth attention is the deliberate tension between two material families. Galbanum and basil bring a sharp, almost bitter green quality that refuses to behave like a background note. Against that, labdanum and guaiac wood lay down a dense, smoky warmth. The rose at the center doesn't read romantic, it reads architectural, propped up by bay rum and leather that give it structure rather than softness. Black pepper and mastic add a resinous edge that connects the two poles. Most fragrances settle into one mood by the heart. This one holds the argument open.
The evolution
The first twenty minutes are sharp, almost aggressive. Basil and galbanum push forward with a green intensity that some will read as medicinal, others as electric. Black pepper adds friction. Blackcurrant blossom softens the edges just enough to let you approach. Within the first hour, the smoke arrives, and the composition pivots. Rose appears in the heart but never behaves like a floral note. It's leathery, slightly bitter, propped up by bay rum that gives it a boozy warmth. Leather settles in alongside, not as an accent but as architecture. By hour three, the green is gone, replaced by a dense resinous drydown. Labdanum and guaiac wood carry the weight, amber adding warmth underneath. Vetiver grounds everything, slightly earthy, slightly smoky. The composition holds close to skin from hour four onward. What remains at the eight-hour mark is a quiet smoke, warm and worn, closer to the inside of a leather jacket than the outside of one. On fabric the next day, the labdanum dominates, a sweet, resinous hum that outlasts everything else.
Cultural impact
Mark Buxton's contribution to Project Renegades carries the same confidence and forward momentum that defines his broader body of work. The smoky leather rose profile resonates with anyone drawn to compositions that push past comfortable categories, offering a wear that asks for attention and rewards it. Cool green aromatics open the fragrance with a brisk, almost mentholated lift that feels bracing against the warmer notes waiting beneath. The rose at the heart refuses to behave like a traditional floral, instead reading as dusky and slightly metallic, edged with the dry bite of smoke.
