Scents of Surprise: Inside the D.S. & Durga Universe
Liberty explores the world through the eyes – or rather nose – of the most irreverent scent brand around
Read more
Scents of Surprise: Inside the D.S. & Durga Universe
Liberty explores the world through the eyes – or rather nose – of the most irreverent scent brand around
By: Shannon Peter
If there’s one brand you’ll never find riding any kind of beauty bandwagon it’s D.S. & Durga. The Brooklyn-based fragrance house has been scenting the collarbones of the world’s coolest inhabitants since 2007, those in search of extraordinary ‘fumes like nothing they’ve smelt before.
We consider it one of the most irreverent brands to call The Fragrance Lounge home, yet interestingly, irreverence wasn’t the aim. “We never tried to approach anything in opposition per se,” explains co-founder and self-taught perfumer, David Seth Moltz. “We just did things the way we wanted from the start when we knew nothing about perfume, business, or the perfume business.” But what they lacked in specialist knowledge, they certainly made up with in vision. “We are also so inspired by things outside of perfumery – music, myth and the mundane to name three big ones.”
Storytellers to their core, each D.S. & Durga scent manages to capture a real-world object, moment or experience, and transform it into an incredible olfactory universe just waiting to be released from its glass bottle. Olfactory curiosity piqued? Let’s take a trip through perhaps the most unusual, unpredictable, trend-defying scents in D.S. & Durga’s line-up…
Wear at Maximum Volume
The antithesis of a wafty, barely-there skin scent, Wear at Maximum Volume is unabashedly loud – but never overbearing. “It’s a bold night out in Londontown with cosmic rock gods!” reckons Moltz, created as an ode to the neo-Tudor wonderland that is our Soho flagship. In scent terms, it’s fruity and aromatic, blending top notes of mandarin and Liberty silk, with base notes of Brixton Moss and moonlit patchouli. And it’s exclusive to Liberty.
Shop NowBrown Flowers
Where other fragrance brands concern themselves with the bright, bold and shiny, D.S. & Durga are major advocates for finding magic in the mundane. “Kavi [the brand’s cofounder] and I have always loved the idea of drab,” Moltz explains. “She was born in '79, me in ‘80. The echoes of dusty 70s terry cloth polos, Fleetwood Mac and heady floral perfumes is something we both innately understand from our childhood. We love to mine that world, among many others!” Brown Flowers is the epitome of this, described by the brand as: aging vials of umber hues, weird brown orchids, coffee flower and dry jasmine buds littered with faded citrus peels. Divine.
Shop Now
Steamed Rainbow
“This is my best try at what a rainbow smells like bending in the air,” describes Moltz. “It is fresh and humid.” And with notes of violet, almond flower, mandarin submerged in weightless water, it somehow smells entirely colourful, too.
Shop NowCowboy Grass
“This is probably the oddest thing we make,” admits Moltz. “But it does very well for us.” It captures the sensations of traipsing through the warm, dry pastures of the Wild West. “It’s a strange play of contrasts – fresh, pungent, herbal, smoky-woody.”
Shop Now
Bistro Waters
“Bistro Waters is a savoury gourmand which isn't something I had heard much of when we made it a few years ago,” explains Moltz. It uses real green bell pepper (now that is polarising.
Shop Now
?fmt=auto&qlt=default&metadata=true$poieg$&w=1000&h=1300&sm=c&poi={$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.x},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.y},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.w},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.h}&scaleFit=poi)
