FloralMark Buxton Perfumes
Mark Buxton Perfumes is the eponymous house of an English perfumer based in Paris, opened in 2008. Buxton had made his name composing the first Comme des Garçons fragrance, released in 1994, and had worked for Givenchy, Versace, Cartier and Paco Rabanne before creating a niche perfumery line under his own name.
Mark Buxton Perfumes perfumes
FloralA nose by chance
Mark Buxton was born in Derby, England, and grew up near Hamburg. He says himself that he entered perfumery by pure chance: a bet on his ability to recognize fragrances blind earned him a place at the Haarmann & Reimer school, which later became Symrise, where he trained.
His career was first built on commissioned perfumery. Givenchy, Versace, Van Cleef & Arpels, Paco Rabanne, Lagerfeld, Burberry, Cartier and Chopard feature in his catalogue, along with a stint as an independent consultant at Luzi.
Comme des Garçons, the turning point
The turning point came from a Japanese house. Buxton composed the first Comme des Garçons fragrance, released in 1994, built on a Moroccan souk accord, and later signed Comme des Garçons 2, recognizable by its ink note.
These fragrances built the reputation of the house in niche perfumery and that of their creator among enthusiasts. Karen Wheeler, in the Financial Times, considers them his most iconoclastic creations, and what made known a name that the general public does not recognize.
The house under its own name
Mark Buxton opened his house in 2008, a rare move for a perfumer employed in the industry: signing under his own name rather than that of a client. The line is distributed in niche perfumery, outside the usual selective distribution channels.
He continues in parallel to compose for others, niche houses such as Le Labo, biehl parfumkunstwerke, Oddity and Calé Fragranze d’Autore, and the Folie à Plusieurs film fragrance series. His signature style is recognizable from one register to another.