Lost classic, new trouble: Comme des Garçons x Vaquera Classique Perdu

I like my classics with a lipstick smear and a safety pin, so yes, my pulse jumped when I saw Comme des Garçons teaming with Vaquera on Classique Perdu. The title reads like a dare, a vintage archetype misplaced in a club bathroom at 2 a.m., and that is very Vaquera energy.

If you know Vaquera, you know the label’s couture is rowdy, camp, and unbothered by good behavior. Pair that with Comme des Garçons fragrance DNA, the house that made weird smell beautiful, and you get expectations that are deliciously specific. Think of the cool metallic hush of Odeur 53, the photocopier static of Odeur 71, the inky-shiny calligraphic sheen of CDG 2, the resinous backbone of Wonderwood, the inky noir swagger of Black, and the meditative cedar bath of Monocle Scent One: Hinoki. None of those are polite, yet all of them are wearable. That’s the sweet spot I hope Classique Perdu hits.

We don’t have a full note list yet, but the name is loud enough. “Lost classic” hints at an aldehydic floral ghost or an old-school cologne silhouette rewired with techy, mineral facets. Picture a crisp white blouse sprayed with powder and neroli, then cut with solvent-bright aromachemicals or a synthetic smoke curl. If Vaquera leans into glamour-trash romance, I’m bracing for a corsage of florals tugged off-center, something that flirts with pretty and then scuffs it on the pavement.

Unisex was always the right label here. Comme des Garçons has never cared about gendered guardrails, and Vaquera isn’t about to start. If you loved the crystalline cool of Odeur 53 but wanted more body, or the lacquered ink of CDG 2 but craved a floral bite, keep your nose ready.

What I’ll be checking first: does it open with a cold sparkle, does the heart pivot into a lived-in skin warmth, and does the drydown keep a clean-dirty tension rather than collapsing into beige wood? Longevity and sillage from Comme des Garçons can be sly, often more aura than fog machine, which I’m fine with if the structure stays interesting.

I’ll be hunting Classique Perdu the minute it lands at counters. If you catch it before me, I want the tea. Is the classic truly lost, or just hiding in plain sight with a new haircut?