The Perfume Closet doors swing open one last time, before Perfume go on hiatus

Another Perfume Closet drop. And as always, we get a promotional video of Perfume modelling the collection. But bafflingly, the music used in the video is not a song from Nebula Romance: Part 1 or 2, despite one of the collection themes being Nebula Romance.

I will never understand Perfume putting out these promo videos for their clothing line and not always opting to use their own music. The video for this collection really should have featured one of Perfume songs, give that it will be the last collection fans will get for quite a while.

Perfume Closet | Amuse

Perfume Closet is such a strange proposition. It’s kind of an extension of merch, but it’s a bit more than that, because the main hook of Perfume Closet is some of the items being near-enough replicas of things Perfume have worn for stage performances and promo for albums / singles. I think this is cool and makes sense on one hand. But on the other hand, it…kinda doesn’t. This approach of ‘Buy our outfits’ narrows the appeal of Perfume Closet so much, when it really should have something to appeal beyond the fanbase. There are more regular items in the collection. But it’s all overpriced variants of things you could find much cheaper at GU or Uniqlo, so that immediately fucks up the wider appeal. But this approach is Perfume in a nutshell to a degree. Everything is just for those who done entered the sphere, fuck everybody else. Then again, if the only way to buy any Perfume Closet is via pop-ups and A!Smart — an official merch store for acts signed to Amuse — then I guess it really is just a collection for the fans and basically considered merch anyway.

But Perfume Closet is onto something by offering versions of their own looks, because Perfume fans will not turn down an opportunity to dress like Perfume. And a notable thing about the Perfume fandom (aside from some of them being perverted and racist) is that they know how the fuck to use a sewing machine. Fans will perform dance covers on YouTube in homemade versions of Perfume outfits and pull up to concerts wearing them too. And so many of these outfits look incredible. In a lot of cases they actually look better than the Perfume originals, because you can see some fans were conscious of wanting to serve, and therefore changed elements of the designs to look a bit more fashionable and less Drag Race design challenge with left over fabrics and a glue gun.

I guess the Perfume Closet sales are good though, because it’s been going for 10 collections.

Perfume Closet | Amuse

Not coinciding Perfume Closet drops with music related releases feels like such a missed oppurtunity. The collection themes were always an album cycle behind, which meant they could never work with anything new. But a release from the album or single that each collection is centred on would have been a cool thing to shed light back on older songs. A music video for the “Polygon Wave (Remix)” for Perfume Closet collection 6. A new music video for “Spending All My Time” featuring Perfume performing the choreo for Perfume Closet collection 7. A music video for “Mawaru Kagami” for Perfume Closet collection 8. A performance music video for “Mugen Mirai” for Perfume Closet collection 9. And a music video for “The Light” or “Ima Ima Ima” would have been a cool release for this collection.

Perfume Closet | Amuse

It really is a shame that this collection wasn’t able to be released just a few weeks earlier, to ensure that fans who wanted to buy the Nebula Romance: Part 1 pieces could do so and make sure they had it in time for Perfume’s Tokyo Dome show.

Perfume Closet | Amuse

Some of the Nebula Romance pieces actually look kinda cool. It’d be easy to work the jackets into 80s retro athleisure looks. And if you’re a Sith dressing ass bitch like me or into tech wear some of the Nebula Romance pieces come in black and look super slick. Although it is a shame that the Nebula Romance jackets are in all black and don’t feature the blue and white panels that the mint jacket does. I think it would have been a nice pop of colour which would have highlighted the 80s retro vibe, whilst also highlighting the jacket detail that makes it distinctly Nebula Romance. But it still looks pretty fly.

I bet this shit sold out so damn fast when the fax went out about the hiatus.

When (or if) Perfume return from their hiatus, I think they should either can Perfume Closet or rehaul the bitch. I just don’t think ‘Here are some pieces that look like our outfits’ is a compelling enough offering. And the range is SO overpriced. There is no real passion behind this endeavour. It’s just Perfume doing whatever. Something I would like to see from Perfume when (of it) they return, is to see business endeavours which align with their own personal interests — beyond Natalie articles of Nocchi visiting game studios and photos in a magazine of Kashiyuka staring at ceramic bowls. Make more of that shit. Nocchi’s video game studio visits a Netflix or YouTube series. Put Nocchi in a Nintendo campaign. Make Kashiyuka the face of aquatic getaways. Give a-chan her own variety show.

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💿 Album reviews: Game | Complete Best | Triangle | LEVEL3 | JPN | Cosmic Explorer | The Best “P Cubed” | Future Pop | Plasma | Nebula Romance: Part 1

🎛️ Extended Mixes: Mawaru Kagami | Moon | Cosmic Treat | Nebula Romance