It is not clear why this accessory line smells

Smells are not less attention grabbing than sights. And smelly not less enticing than sightly. The existence of this brand, named after the un-fragrant was recently brought to our attention by an SOTD reader in Tokyo. Initially, we thought it was a joke or some AI trickery. But he told us that he really saw this standee in a Urban Research store there. After he piqued our interest , we dug deeper, and found that this brand, with an olfactory-tickling name, is not fake and is, in fact, a house brand of Urban Research, the 50-year-old, Osaka-based Japanese fashion retailer. They started as a jeans shop in Kadoma City in 1974, but has, in the last five decades, grown to be one of the more important players among the many multi-label clothiers in Japan, including Beams and Journal Standard. Interestingly, Urban Research did not arrived in Tokyo until they open their first odour-free store in Shibuya in 2002.

Smelly is a jewellery line for both men and women. It has nothing to do with marketing by scents (such as is the case with Famous Amos cookies or the bath and beauty store Lush UK) since the necklaces, rings, and such they sell come unscented, especially if they are made of what the brand calls, somewhat ironically, “surgical stainless steel”. Created in April 2022, the brand was at first called Smelly só (which sounds worse!). But a year later, it was shortened to just Smelly. It is not clear if the one word less moniker would reduce the suggestion of the potential pong that the name brand’s name evokes, but Smelly is still, well, smelly, and we’re surprised it has not raised a stink among Japanese consumers. Further probing showed that in 2020, Urban Research started a Smelly Nail Club, which sells sweetly-coloured varnishes for nails, even with a campaign “SMELLY nail polish giveaway”!

We do find the naming rather odd, given that the Japanese are especially against anything that would emit smells best described as funky. In the retail of personal hygiene products, for example, there are all manner of odour-banishing preparations, even shampoos and shower gels for those individuals, especially men thought to have “old men smell”. Bodily bouquet that assault the olfactory system are so unacceptable that in August, Japanese show host Yuri Kawaguchi saw it fit to share on her socials how unable she was to tolerate guys’ malodorousness. “I really can’t stand men who smell bad during summer or those who have body odour because they are unhygienic,” she said, apparent sexism intact. The backlash, especially online, was swift. She soon found herself out of a job. Urban Research is clearly more accepting than her. But what will they think of next for a name? Inspired by Kim Kardashian’s willingness to ingest excrement, maybe Shitty?

Photos: Jiro Shiratori