Amouage Imitation Man

 Amouage Imitation Man is based on 1970s New York City, the city and time in which Christopher Chong grew up. Arriving in the Lower East Side in the mid 1970s, the sights, sounds and scents of New York have clearly had a formative impact on the Creative Director, who this year brings us Imitation, a new duo of fragrances that represent the “subcultures of an iconic era”. The name of the fragrance was inspired by Andy Warhol and his imitative art. Chong takes us on an olfactory odyssey of glamour and grit, evoking “audacious freedom” through the smooth velvet of the masculine scent. Imitation Man is a chypre and leather eau de parfum, edp.

Amouage Imitation Man Reviews

Fragrantica: "This fragrance basically wants to conjure up all our associations and emotions we link to the artistic freedom expressed in nightlife of yesteryear"

An excerpt from a review by The Candy Perfume Boy

Imitation Man relies heavily on cedrat in the opening, juxtaposing the sparkling citrus fruit against a grainy black pepper for vibrancy, announcing itself with a dazzling coolness. It doesn’t quite fizz, but there is a liveliness in the opening that quickly dissipates to make room for the wave of smoothness that follows.

At its core, Imitation Man is all about powder. It boasts a beautifully plush and cooling iris note, but also a vegetal violet. Leather joins the fray to take things into a more suede-like territory but it lacks the warmth and meatiness that brings associations with real leather. There’s an aloof, cold nuance to the fragrance that represents unobtainable beauty – one can experience it, but there’s a distance that prevents a sense of ever really getting to know it. That said, things do eventually warm up in the base, with a dab of sweet myrrh and the roughness of patchouli, but for the most part, Imitation Man wants to be know as soft and icy, making for a scent of contradictions.

An excerpt from a review by cafleurbon

Spray it on, and record vinyl spins off the top of the fragrance at 78 speed: anisic, rubber-plastic, mastic. That vinyl note immediately smacks up against a sensual blend of jacket leather and castoreum that is both polished and louche.

As the vinyl-leather accord continues its street swagger, a host of urbane notes sidle up alongside it. Rather than calming down the opening, the contrasting cool florals and warm spices that emerge next act as a bolster for the animal aspects. First, powder orris, rose and violet come up through the center of the perfume one at a time. The cool lightness of the orris is unexpected, as this is often a rooty, earthy smell. It moves forward rather quickly and is followed by a dark, liquid violet, a flower whose velvety, loamy sweetness melds effortlessly with leather. It takes me rather longer to recognize rose, but she’s there, adding a touch of softness.

As Imitation Man broadens, the flowers and animalic notes merge into a spicy blend of black pepper and nutmeg. Maybe it’s the backstory, but as I inhale that vinyl top note mixed with the flowers and spice, I get quick sense memories of the East Village as it was – the vintage stores selling old jeans and LPs next to punk bars, the lines of leather-clad clubbers outside CBGB smoking Marlboros, Santana blasting from a squat brownstone off Avenue A. Imitation Man is an addictive, carefully orchestrated mashup of refinement and seediness. I can’t smell it without thinking of Freddie Mercury. 

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