retaW | From a conversation about fragrance to scent across everyday life

I wanted to create something with fragrance.

— Hiroshi Fujiwara

On retaW’s shelves, the name ALLEN* appears on perfume, body shampoo and fabric spray. Choosing a fragrance leads to a second choice: where and in what form to use it. Established in Tokyo in 2009, the label has brought scent into washing, dressing and spending time at home.

It began with a conversation between Hiroshi Fujiwara, whose work spanned music and fashion, and Daisuke Murakami, who brought knowledge of cosmetics. Making a favoured fragrance usable in daily life became central to the project, from its early products to today’s restrained packaging.

Contents

At a glance
The founders and the making of retaW
What shapes the brand
References

At a glance

Established: 2009, Tokyo, Japan
Founding partners: Hiroshi Fujiwara and Daisuke Murakami
Name: Water spelled backwards
Operator: blender, Inc., established on 29 July 2008; representative director Daisuke Murakami
Principal categories: perfume, body and hair care, fabric fragrance, home fragrance and car tags
Official website: retaW

The founders and the making of retaW

From punk in Ise to Tokyo and London

Fujiwara grew up in Ise. Discovering punk at thirteen made him want to travel to Tokyo or Britain to buy its clothes. He moved to Tokyo at eighteen, where he had friends and connections through his sister’s friends in the fashion industry.

I think I wanted to do something with fashion or music.

— Hiroshi Fujiwara

Visiting London in 1982, he was struck by the relationships between established designers and students sharing the same spaces. He also recalled Malcolm McLaren encouraging him to visit New York. He encountered hip-hop there, worked across DJing and clothing, and later developed the small design organisation Fragment.

A wish to make fragrance meets cosmetics knowledge

The immediate beginning of retaW was a conversation with Murakami, blender’s CEO. Fujiwara wanted to create something with fragrance, while Murakami knew about cosmetics. Fragrance itself was a new field for Fujiwara at the time. In excerpts from an intelligence magazine interview published by eye_C in 2017, Murakami was introduced as a physician.

The label began in 2009 with body shampoo as its first product. Scent entered an everyday act of washing. Portable solid perfume, fabric spray and liquid perfume later extended the occasions on which it could be used.

blender was incorporated in 2008, the year before retaW began. Its current official company profile lists the planning, development and sale of fragrance products among its activities.

Turning ideas into everyday objects

Masako Toshine, who was managing director in 2013, brought experience from working as a flight attendant and encountering products while travelling. Fujiwara was involved in names and fragrance development, while turning ideas into usable objects took time.

Development examples reported in 2013 included around three months for a car tag and more than a year for body cream. Scented paper and a product applied to skin pose different questions of form and use. Toshine connected fragrance with getting dressed:

You should choose your fragrance like you choose your clothes every morning

— Masako Toshine

What shapes the brand

Musical names and a distinctive twist

Musical references run through the names: NATURAL MYSTIC* invokes Bob Marley’s song, while ALLEN* references Lily Allen.

retaW sales and PR representative Saki (キーフ咲) described a restrained, slightly distinctive approach in her Hobonichi conversation with Taeko Kusaba:

A fragrance with a slightly distinctive side.

— キーフ咲

ALLEN* liquid perfume is a lily-centred floral. Saki described the image behind ALLEN* through yamayuri, lilies that bloom quietly in the mountains yet make their presence felt through scent. She connected this image with the store’s wish to offer a space with a clearer atmosphere amid Harajuku’s fashion and culture, where visitors could enjoy fragrance.

NATURAL MYSTIC*, meanwhile, centres on patchouli and vanilla, with herbs and spices.

Minimal packaging that leaves room for the fragrance

Packaging follows a related idea. Saki explained that the container should not predefine a fragrance’s character:

We want people to appreciate it only after using it.

— キーフ咲

Easy-to-open packaging encourages use straight after purchase.

One fragrance, across body, clothes and space

Within ALLEN*, the liquid perfume is an eau de parfum worn on skin; body shampoo washes the body and hair. Fabric spray is designed for textiles such as clothing, sofa covers and curtains. A shared fragrance name connects different uses and forms.

The official catalogue offers an entry point by fragrance name, alongside its product categories. Finding a scent can be followed by deciding whether it belongs in a shower routine, on the skin or with clothes. retaW’s breadth lies both in fragrance itself and in the objects that make it part of daily life.