27 87’s new perfume is bananas

So often with perfume, we’re promised the opportunity of an escape — the ability to transport us to a different time or place. Barcelona-based brand 27 87 rejects this approach, instead serving up the scent of the present with perfumes that act as an olfactory invitation to relish in the here and now. And when the present moment smells this good, we’re inclined to accept the invite. 

Since 2016, founder Romy Kowalewski has created eleven perfumes, each one inspired by a distinct state of mind. While her range has, from the beginning, incorporated elements that invite questioning (Sonar includes notes of both beer and burnt rubber, for example), her most recent launch has still managed to incite ripples of shock, excitement and — above all — intrigue. Introducing: Hakuna Matata, the perfume that places bananas front and centre. 

But it’s not as (*ahem*) bananas as it sounds. As Kowalewski explains, “Banana has always lived at the edges of fine perfumery. Too joyful. Too strange. Too unfiltered. Which makes it perfect. We weren’t interested in safe notes. We wanted something that catches you off guard.” Avant-garde though it may be, the choice actually makes sense given the ingredient’s distinctive scent. “The perfumer for the fragrance, Rodrigo Flores-Roux, once said ‘banana is already a kind of perfume’,” the founder says. “We simply gave it space to unfold.” 

I’ll admit, I was dubious at first, especially as someone who generally opts for musky, floral perfumes, but Hakuna Matata proved itself to be all that Kowalewski promised. In a confounding feat, Hakuna Matata somehow manages to smell exactly like the plushy foam bananas of childhood pic n’ mixes, while simultaneously being undeniably elegant. Oxymoronic? Perhaps. But impossible? Evidently not. 

Although banana may be the star of the scent, this was by no means the initial goal. “The process did not start off with banana,” Kowalewski recalls. “It started with a shared mood. We were drawn to the idea of unfiltered joy. Something playful but never simple.” It just so happened that Roux had already begun experimenting with the perfect scent to encapsulate this playful attitude. “Rodrigo had been exploring banana already,” Kowalewski says. “The green peel. The creamy fruit. The way it opens sharp, then softens into florals and musks.”

It’s unlikely many of us have given the two distinct elements of the banana much thought — the peel usually only receives any attention in the context of cartoonish hijinks — but these two separate entities have wildly different scent profiles. The creamy, almost caramel-like interior is in stark contrast to the verdant, sharp, exotic peel encasing it — a duality expressed in Hakuna Matata through the combination of contradictory notes. As Romy explains, “[Roux] built two distinct movements — one crisp, one golden — and wove them together with broom flower, jasmine, honey and exclusive Givaudan molecules like Sylkolide and Tanaisone.”

The rich, warm base of honey and labdanum brings a sticky sweetness to the scent, making the perfect canvas for the brighter notes of jasmine, bergamot and orange blossom to bounce off of. On first spray, you’ll be hit with these more refreshing elements, including the green banana peel accord, and as the scent settles, these warmer, sweeter notes begin to emerge, as if you’re peeling open a banana. 

But how does Hakuna Matata weigh up to 27 87’s commitment to placing its wearers in the present? Well, as Kowalewski explains, “We were craving something light that still had presence and Hakuna Matata was born from that tension. It’s a scent that uplifts but does not escape — that creates space but still holds its shape.” The perfume house’s philosophy isn’t just about the present moment, though. It’s a response to present society, and what it needs more of. “Rodrigo and I talked a lot about optimism,” Kowalewski says. “Not as a trend but as a practice. A decision. Hakuna Matata became our way of holding onto that.”

When so many other fragrances rely on the idea of nostalgia and memory, 27 87 feels refreshing in its insistence on using perfume as a tool to do exactly the opposite. “The present is where life happens. And scent is one of the few tools that can anchor you in it,” Kowalewski says. “We don’t build fantasies or project into the future. Each perfume is an act of presence. Something that responds to how you feel today.” It’s a modern ideology for a modern world. “The world moves fast,” the founder concludes. “We try to create stillness. Fragrance as clarity. Fragrance as pause. Fragrance as now.”

Shop Hakuna Matata here.