Issey Miyake’s new perfume is a salty sensation

Three decades on from the launch of the iconic Le Sel D’Issey Pour Homme, the ’90s sensation is receiving a makeover. And as ever, it’s bound to make a splash. 

The original was sold as a “waterfall in fragrance form”. And the reimagined version doesn’t just maintain the original’s invigorating feeling of nature, but it kicks it up a notch. “Le Sel D’Issey Eau de Parfum is a vibrant, lively fragrance — a fragrance made up of sensual warm woods and a tremendous salty freshness that never seems to fade,” explains the mind behind the scent, perfumer Quentin Bisch. And as we head into September, leaving the blissful summer months behind us, the sensory reminder of salty, sun-kissed days couldn’t be more welcome.

Le Sel D’Issey takes the image of powerful waves, splashing across the sun-drenched, dry sand, and transforms it into scent. Exploring these two elements as one — not solely the aquatic saltiness of the sea, nor just the deep woodiness of the earth, but the relationship between the two — provides the basis of this perfume. Inspired by this interaction between earth and sea, the scent bottles the freshness, vibrancy and warmth you can usually only find in the natural world. 

Extract of laminaria seaweed and oak moss provide the initial wave of salty, aquatic intensity, which is then brought back down to earth with deep, heady notes of amber, incense and cedarwood. But nature isn’t just the inspiration for this scent, it’s integral to its makeup. Made using ninety-four percent natural ingredients, if this perfume smells uncannily similar to the real thing, that’s because it is. 

It’s all very on brand for an Issey Miyake scent. Throughout his lifetime, Issey Miyake himself was known for the powerful simplicity of his designs (this was the man who created Steve Jobs’ iconic black turtleneck, after all), a style that has been kept alive in the design of this perfume bottle. Created by Japanese artist Tokujin Yoshioka, a longtime collaborator of the brand, the vessel is a pared-back, minimalist interpretation of the scent itself. A soft wash of grey smoke paints the bottle, as if filled with incense, while the matte glass bears the texture of salt crystals. And, staying true to their commitment to sustainability, the bottle is made from twenty percent recycled glass, while the cardboard box it comes in contains recycled seaweed!

Centred around nature though it may be, Le Sel D’Issey isn’t about subtlety. As with the original, the new iteration of this iconic scent is alive with the vitality of nature, empowered by briny, aquatic freshness and woody, earthy warmth. “For me, a fragrance that you can’t feel doesn’t exist!” says Bisch, “Issey Miyake’s olfactory creations have always been powerful fragrances with an assertive trail.”