The act of self care has never felt more relevant nor more necessary, and while we don’t believe that effective self care is dependant on possessions, we do trust in the power of anything that delivers a sense of comfort and familiarity. For us, that feeling is prompted by scent.
The year 1994 saw the house of Martin Margiela launch ‘Replica’, a collection of garments 
sourced from around the world that were reproduced and infused into the label’s existing collections. Each season since, Maison Martin Margiela has released a new ‘Replica’ capsule collection, comprised of reproductions of “existing garments, accessories and other articles that Maison Martin Margiela… prefers remain exactly as they were found.”
2012 saw the introduction of the ‘Replica’ fragrance collection to Maison Margiela, a line committed to the “Reproduction of Familiar Scents and Moments of Varying Locations and Periods.” The beauty of ‘Replica’ is that each perfume, marked on cotton with its provenance and period, has been designed to elicit memories of a specific time and place- Beach Walk, a yellow floral, takes those who smell it to Calvi in 1972, Jazz Club celebrates Brooklyn in 2013 through a heady blend of rum cocktails and cigars, while Lazy Sunday Morning succeeds in bottling soft skin and bed linen. ‘Replica’ awakens our collective unconscious, igniting that feeling of comfort and familiarity we so crave.
2020 heralds the arrival of Bubble Bath (Beverly Hills, 2005), a clean, floral musk eau de toilette that delivers the comfort and warmth of a warm, soapy bath to the everyday- without the need to get one’s hair wet or even the space required for a bathtub.
Bubble Bath itself is far more complex and layered than the soap and warm water combination its name inspires. Clean and comforting, the fragrance opens on notes of soap, bergamot and pink pepper and develops into a heart of lavender flower, rose superessence and jasmine absolute before drying down into base notes of patchouli, coconut and white musk for a scent that replicates the feeling of immersion in clean, hot, scented water as the body is soothed from all tensions. The result is soft and musky, clean and unisex, a fragrance designed to comfort.
Maison Martin Margiela ‘Replica’ Bubble Bath is available now on mecca.com.
Photography and styling: Gemma Watts
Products have been supplied to media without any obligation to review and all opinions are the author’s own.
