État Libre d'Orange -Tom of Finland
Tom of Finland is a great representation of the olfactory and visual surprises that Etat Libre d'Orange likes to present us with. The original bottle and packaging art were deeply homoerotic, showing the famous muscular body of the (real) Tom of Finland. But the fragrance itself is a beautifully clean, streamlined saffron leather, with only a hint of fetishizing rubber. A puff of soap and powder round out the snappy leather, and make it a comfortable - and comforting - wear for either sex, proving once again that marketing is, well, just marketing and we should all just wear what we like. The words of the perfumers about Tom of Finland are revealing: "Tom of Finland is beyond sexuality - he is sex, in all its fullness and magnitude, open and erect. Fantasy clings to him like his leather jacket, with suede, musk, and gray amber in the base notes. His belt is fastened with an accord of pepper and spicy-fresh saffron, tangled with a blond suede sensuality on a vanilla bed of tonka bean and iris. This is a man who wants to play, to love, to die and be reborn, again and again. Tom of Finland is a tribute to tomorrow's glorious possibilities." In a nutshell, you might think by the marketing that Tom of Finland is all dirt, but it is the opposite - clean, powdery, and pale.
