Issey Miyake
Issey Miyake
231 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The grapefruit arrives with an aquatic shimmer, bergamot following close behind with that slightly soapy petitgrain facet amplified. There's an ozonic quality threading through the citrus that reads more like linen dried outdoors than actual fruit—clean to the point of abstraction.
Nutmeg emerges but stays peculiarly muted, its warmth dampened by that persistent aquatic current running through the composition. The leather note reveals itself as decidedly modern and synthetic, adding texture without any animalic weight—more like the smell of a new sports bag than anything you'd find in a tannery.
Cedar and vetiver settle into a quietly woody finish that maintains the fragrance's scrubbed character throughout. The vetiver never goes earthy, instead providing a grassy, almost detergent-like freshness that keeps the base from ever feeling truly warm or embracing.
L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme Sport reads like Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud's architectural sketch of masculinity—all clean lines and calculated restraint. The grapefruit and bergamot opening isn't your typical citrus salvo; there's a metallic, almost mineral quality to the oils that suggests gym bags and chrome rather than Mediterranean groves. This aquatic-fresh backbone runs through the entire composition, giving even the spicy nutmeg heart an oddly scrubbed character, as though the warming spice has been filtered through cold water. The leather accord hovers strangely in the middle, more synthetic than saddle—think neoprene wetsuit rather than old Chesterfields.
What makes this fragrance peculiar is how the cedar and vetiver base never quite commits to warmth. The vetiver especially maintains that grassy, almost soapy quality throughout, refusing to go earthy or rooty. It's sport in the technical sense: functional, clean, designed for movement rather than contemplation. The woody elements feel like they're perpetually viewed through frosted glass, present but emotionally distant.
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3.9/5 (168)