3 Innovative Fragrance Brands Breaking Gender Boundaries
With perfumers whipping up everything from bioengineered fragrances to hand-poured scents, the fragrance world is not short on innovation. Individuality guides the new guard of fine fragrances, as each brand infuses its scents with something entirely fresh. Doing away with the implied gender boundaries of perfume versus cologne, these fragrances are truly for anyone. After all, scent resonates differently for everyone, and there’s no room for limits when it comes to personal expression.
Wonny Lee & Su Min Park, Elorea
Juicy Jeju Island mandarins, Bosung green tea, and Pocheon jasmine are just a few of the specially sourced ingredients that highlight Elorea’s Korean heritage. Founded by Korean-American couple Wonny Lee and Su min Park, the brand’s core scents are named after the very foundational concepts of Earth, Water, Fire, and Heaven. As a lifestyle and fragrance label—it offers candles and hand creams, too—Elorea aims to bring Korea’s centuries-old tradition of scent as a method of self-expression into the modern age.
In this process, the brand highlights the East’s influence in an industry long dominated by Eurocentric noses and notes. “We believe the [Western] geographic origins of the modern-day fragrance industry influenced branding and the use of specific ingredients, and nurtured professionals in the space,” the Elorea founders say. “However, time is always the great equalizer, and we’re seeing some really encouraging changes (and people) at the highest levels of the fragrance industry.” Recently, Elorea announced its partnership with leading Swiss manufacturer Givaudan and perfumer Linda Song, allowing the brand to continue to further expand its imprint.
Justin McLamore, Mack N Gnosh
Turning raw ingredients into something delicious and decadent isn’t new to Mack n Gnosh founder Justin McLamore, but now the chef-turned-perfumer is focused on smell rather than taste. “I could very easily commit a taste to memory, and associate it with who I was with and where we were,” McLamore shares. “Similarly, when I smell a new material for the first time, I’m thinking of whether or not this takes me to a place or a person. I make perfumes around smells that feel familiar and bring me comfort.”
You’ll notice this in his debut fragrance collection, which is handcrafted and bottled by the perfumer in Atlanta, Georgia. The floral-forward Fleuride is an homage to his home state of Florida; full-bodied Amarosé suggests the indulgent experience of drinking his favorite wine, Amarone; and spicy V.S.O.P. is a nod to McLamore’s preference for the complexity of a cognac Old Fashioned. In Mack n Gnosh’s world, the gourmand is often a starting point, but the scents are expertly crafted to only hint at the flavors. “I prefer nuance as opposed to overtness. For now at least,” McLamore says.
Rodrigo Caula & Enrico Pietra, Aeir
With scents like Wet Stone, Suede, and Virgin Olive, Aeir’s lush fragrances evoke the organic materials they’re named after, but, in fact, no natural substances are harmed in their production. The Los Angeles–based ethical fragrance company—co-founded in 2022 by Rodrigo Caula and Enrico Pietra, the design duo who led sustainability efforts at Tesla, worked in Yeezy’s Innovation & Future Lab Direction, and created LVMH’s first Web3 launch under Rimowa—duplicates the olfactory imprint of botanically derived ingredients through molecular bioengineering. This process flips the script on the emphasis the fragrance world has long placed on natural fragrances—whose environmental impacts, unsustainable practices, and carbon emissions often go overlooked—and introduces a new frontier of fragrance-making.
“As newcomers in the space, [we] can feel there is a resistance for change throughout the entire fragrance industry,” say Caula and Pietra. “The politics of fragrance will define the future of scent. It’s been interesting being a part of this changing of the guard.” This shift goes beyond the juice itself, as the co-founders bring their affinity for tech-driven solutions to Aeir, too. The brand is integrated into Web3 with an Aeir ID Membership that gives its community access to a fully circular refill program, exclusive products, and more.
