Perfume is becoming an increasingly popular extension of celebrity identity in South Africa, and Gert-Johan Coetzee is the latest star to turn his personal style into a fragrance collection.
Key takeaways
- The designer has introduced six eau de parfums as his first fragrance range.
- The collection can be purchased through Foschini, Beauty Box and Bash.
- Coetzee developed the scents after studying traditional perfumery in Grasse, France.
- Each fragrance is intended to reflect a distinct mood, character or occasion.
- The designer’s career includes work with Oprah Winfrey, Cardi B, Kourtney Kardashian, Kelly Rowland and Demi-Leigh Tebow.
Gert-Johan Coetzee enters the fragrance world
DJ Zinhle’s recently released Zazi perfume is part of a wider trend that has seen South African public figures transform their names and brands into scents. Fragrance has become another way for Mzansi’s well-known personalities to package and share a piece of themselves.
Now Coetzee is stepping into that space, combining his passion for luxury, narrative and beautiful design with the craft of fine perfumery. His six-piece debut marks a fresh stage in a career that has made headlines for almost 20 years through couture fashion.
The designer has created looks for major South African and global figures, among them Oprah Winfrey, Cardi B, Kourtney Kardashian, Kelly Rowland and Demi-Leigh Tebow. With his perfume range, he is offering audiences a new entry point into his artistic universe — one that does not involve clothing.
“Fashion has always been about creating an experience,” Coetzee says. “I wanted to take that emotion beyond garments and make it more personal and intimate.”
He adds that scent can become closely tied to a person’s identity, giving people a way to carry his creative vision with them in everyday life.
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The collection is being sold exclusively at Foschini, Beauty Box and Bash. That gives fans the opportunity to own part of Coetzee’s design world without having to attend one of his runway presentations.
The project has particular meaning for the designer because its origins can be traced to a visit to Grasse in France, a city long recognised as a historic centre of perfume-making. During the trip, he studied the traditions of high-end fragrance, worked alongside master perfumers and explored the use of perfume oils.
Coetzee says he did not want to place his name on a pre-existing formula. Instead, he set out to learn the discipline and develop scents capable of expressing individual stories.
“Making these perfumes became an artistic journey for me,” he says. His time in Grasse sparked a love of the specialist craft, and he focused on refining each note rather than chasing whatever happened to be fashionable, with every final blend designed to convey a particular feeling and narrative.
Inside the six scents
The range has been created with different personalities, emotions and occasions in mind. Gimme Gimme is a playful, sugary and highly moreish blend featuring sweet notes and tagete alongside amber, floral tones, clove, moss and musk.
Eau de Trouble offers a more daring and flirtatious profile. Orange, anise and almond lead into a heart of rose, jasmine and orange blossom, followed by caramel, vanilla and tonka bean.
Rumours & Roses is presented as a smoky romantic fragrance, mixing berries and tangerine with rose, chamomile and a smoked accord. Top Secret takes a deeper, enigmatic direction through Turkish rose, Damask rose, saffron, black pepper, amber and oud wood.
For a gentler yet sensual option, Shhhh… combines pink berries, cotton candy, bergamot, jasmine, honey and vanilla. Uncontainable is described as the most daring member of the line, opening with cardamom, carrot and fig before developing into sandalwood, iris, cedarwood, cashmere wood, musk, amber, papyrus and leather.
Coetzee says the launch is not simply another addition to his expanding fashion business. Its larger purpose is to create a different, everyday way for people to engage with his imagination and creative work.
Bold storytelling, detailed craftsmanship and a modern luxury perspective shaped by his South African roots have been central to his career. His past collaborations include Barbie, Disney, Swarovski and Ferrari.
Perfume now gives him a medium for expressing those ideas without relying on textiles, seams or a catwalk.
“Working with TFG as our sole retail partner is a remarkable milestone,” Coetzee says. He praises the group’s shared enthusiasm for beauty, fashion and design, adding that he is looking forward to people throughout South Africa trying the fragrances for themselves.
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