CaFleureBon Profiles in American Perfumery: Ulrich Lang of Ulrich Lang New York + I am a Camera Draw

 

 Ulrich Lang

Profile: I grew up in the South of Germany where my grandmother owned a small perfumery. I literally grew up with lotions and potions and quite possibly got the best olfactory education from an early age on. By the time I was a teenager I could name fragrances that people on the street were wearing. 

Photography: Ulrich Lang


My studies brought me to Bavaria where I focused on Business and Marketing. All my professional experience at that time was of a creative nature – I interned in music publishing and cosmetics. I think my internships with Estee Lauder in London ignited my passion for creating products.

Photography: Ulrich Lang 


 
I always dreamt about New York City and first visited this fantastic town in 1987. It was rougher and tougher then and I fell in love with Barneys New York. Their 17th Street store was fabulous. I eventually moved to New York in 1998 permanently.

I love the energy of big cities and meeting so many people on a daily basis, being exposed to different cultures. At the same time I like going back to my roots and visit South Germany where everything is slower, less frantic and quite humble. I am obsessed with astrology as many who know me can attest and I can usually guess a person's sign right when I get to know them. Being a true Libra I take time making decisions and love to connect people.

 


My own line, Ulrich Lang New York, came about as a fusion of my passions for both contemporary photography and fragrance. I worked in New York's art publishing arena and for L'Oreal before starting out on my own in 2003. Distribution has not changed much over the years, I still work with stores like Barneys New York and Aedes de Venustas in the US.

 
 
Irving Penn: Frozen Foods, New York 1977

American Art: Because each of my fragrances is introduced by a different artist, I am clearly biased answering the question who my favorite American artists are. Erik Swain, Katy Grannan and Matt Licari, the US based artists I worked with on my fragrances anvers, anvers 2 and nightscape are favorites (all three artists have different backgrounds and are in different stages of their careers). I have been collecting photography since the late nineties and I would also say a lot of Modern and Contemporary American Masters are some of my favorites. Irving Penn, William Eggleston, Jack Pierson, Roe Ethridge.

I had the luck to collaborate with numerous exciting visual artists over the years:


 
With Daniel Bozhkov (Bulgarian, based in New York) I created Eau d'Ernest, a fragrance inspired by Ernest Hemingway for the Istanbul Biennale 2005 (a video created by Bozkov shows Hemingway lookalikes at the annual Hemigway contest in Key West smelling the fragrance, the bottle shows the young Hemingway when he was a reporter staying at the Grand Hotel de Londres in Istanbul.

 


 
I worked on a commercial edition of Lisa Kirk's fragrance Revolution in 2010 which was inspired by the smell of revolution. The artist asked 10 living revolutionaries what revolution smelled like and perfumer Patricia Choux masterfully put together a scent. The original version of Revolution comes in a pipe bomb made of silver, platinum and gold that starts at $4,000 – in collaboration with jeweler Jelena Behrend).  My most unusual creation must have been a fragrance for Andy Kaufman's fictional character Tony Clifton which was created for a show at Participant, Inc. in New York in 2009. The project was well documented in Interview Magazine 
 


  

Photography:Ruth Sonalo

left to right: Ulrich Lang, Frederick Bouchardy and Jeffrey Lawson


On American Perfumery: In early 2010 I met fellow entrepreneur Frederick Bouchardy of Joya Studio and we talked about what else we could do for our industry. We both had a similar vision of creating an event / fair, an idea my friend, art fair producer Jeffrey Lawson and I had talked about for years. The three of us got along well and decided to make this happen. Everybody who has been to Elements will attest to the fact that American Perfumery is more diverse and creative than ever. More than 100 brands – American, European and Asian came to the Elements Showcase in January 2012 and gave a glimpse of what perfumery looks like in 2012. The evolving customer demands new approaches to fragrance and I look forward to more seductive and unexpected creations across all channels.

Ulrich Lang,Ulrich Lang New York and Co founder of Elements Showcase

 Editor's Note: When I first attended Elements showcase in January 2011 there were 40 brands and at the last show in 2012 there were over 100. The very first American Indie FiFi Awards were held January 30, 2012 and the winner was American- Odin New York 06 Amanu. The next Elements showcase is August 20-21, 2012. The draw takes its name from Christopher Isherwood's short story Goodbye to Berlin (the title is a quote taken from the novel's first page "I am a camera with its shutter open").

For our Draw there is a reader's choice of 100ml of any Ulrich Lang New York fragrance:Nightscape, Anvers, and Anvers 2 . To be eligible please comment on  what you found fascinating about Ulrich (Uli to his friends), choose your fragrance and list three notes from the one you wish to win. Draw ends April 2, 2012

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

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36 comments

  • How wonderful to grow up in a perfumery!

    I would love to win Nightscape. Patchouli, leather, and moss sound like a winning combination, especially enhanced with some of the more unusual notes that are listed.

  • Nightscape is my favorite as well. I was interested in Lang’s decision to live in New York, something I would never do… I’d be more likely to decide to live in some rural area!

  • There is a lot about Mr Lang’s background that is fascinating
    Starting with collaborating on a Ernest Hemingway scent and of course that only a year ago he was part of creating a showcase for American perfumery in NYC
    I would choose Anvers2 with Bulgarian rose cedarwood and lime
    In Luca Turins guide he gave it a great review and I always wanted to try it
    Thank you for such a generous draw and sharing your story

  • I forgot to mention the three notes that stuck me the most in Nightscape. Certainly the patchouli comes first. But the violet, jasmin, and especially geranium really sound attractive in a blend with the patchouli. Excellent.

  • I think it’s great that he made a fragrance for Andy Kaufman’s fictional character Tony Clifton. Thanks for the article.

  • nickley007 says:

    Amazing that he is into photography! Anvers catches my interest with notes of mint, sesame and leather.

  • It’s so cool he could identify frags people were wearing on the street by teenager-hood! Thanks for the draw. 🙂

  • Rosemary R. says:

    I love that even though with a perfume background that is well settled in Germany, He still wanted to venture out into NYC and live in the high energy and mixed cultures. He also enjoys returning home for a calmer vibe. He has managed to balance alot with perfumes and the enjoyment of discovering.

    My choice is for :ANVERS with the notes of Mint, Violets and Oakmoss. Perfect!

  • As an artist myself I appreciate how Ulrich Lang integrates art into his concept. The fact that he was able to visualize and then bring to life Elements Showcase speaks highly of his generosity of time & his determination to bring indie fragrances to the attention of more people.
    I’ve not had a chance to try his scents but as a gardener I’m intrigued by the use of rhubarb in ANVERS 2 and love bulgarian rose & Jasmine in flower and in a bottle!

  • Making a fragrance for Tony Clifton is pretty great-and amusing to boot. Nightscape sounds amazing-geranium, leather, and moss, yum!!

  • What a lovely giveaway!

    I loved reading this article, discovering all of his other passions like astrology, photography and art. It goes to show that perfumery is creative and an art in itself.
    Also his move to New York in 1998 was also an interesting aspect of this article, and made me ponder over as to whether New York is a place I would like to explore too.
    If I won, I would love a bottle of Anvers. The combo of mint, leather and honey sounds beautiful.

  • marcopietro says:

    I consider Uli an urban, contemporary artist.
    My choice is Nightscape, it presentes some of my favorite notes like Violets, patchouli and leather.

  • I loved this article!! It was really insightful!! What amazed me was actually two thing, the first that he could recognise the perfumes people were wearing on the street at such an early age and his current guessing game to know what sign people are when he gets to know them a bit!! Well he is a Libra!!! Of the three perfumes my favorite is Anvers two, the combination of rhubarb jasmine, lily, mimosa, blond woods ,tonka bean, vanilla, amber and so many other notes sounds amazing!!!

  • It’s great that Ulrich Lang collaborates with contemporary artists for his perfumes.
    I would like to try Nightscape, with violet, jasmine and tangerine notes.
    Thanks for the draw!

  • Both the Hemingway and Revolution projects that he was involved seem very interesting (and the bottles are amazing). I find Anvers 2 very intriguing with its rhubarb, mimosa and olibanum.

  • noetic owl says:

    What intrigued me about Ulrich was that he chose to live in NYC and leave behind a “quiet life” in Germany-that takes guts! All three fragrances sound wonderful-so hard to choose but I think I would pick Anvers 2. Thanks for the draw!

  • I think the photography aspect of his career really resonated with me – I love this cityscape shots. I’d love to win a bottle of Nightscape – thanks for the draw!

  • Great read. Thank you! Very interesting to read about his love for NY and living in a big city.
    My choice would be Anvers 2 as I love jasmine, lily and mimosa. And oakmoss.

  • Anvers 2 sounds lovely with jasmine, sandalwood and amber. I love that Ulrich Lang is into astrology. I would love to know how that plays into his work.

  • I like that he’s into photography, it’s a hobby I’d love to get into. It’s always interesting reading about Europeans who choose to leave home and make a life for themselves in the States.

    If I had a choice, I’d definitely take Anvers. I’ve never smelled it (niche perfume is hard to get in Ireland) but it’s got some of my favourite notes, lime, tonka, vanilla and tons more.

  • A fragrance for Tony Clifton! Brilliant!!! And also the Revolution project is really interesting, I’d like to win Nightscape and the three notes are: Amber, Tonka Bean and Patchouli.

  • I like the photography aspect of his career and the very creative projects he has worked on. I’d like Nightscape with patchouli, violets, tangerine,jasmine and leather…yum!

  • I liked the fact that he was always involved in creative projects! I would love to own anvers 2.

  • I liked his interest in astrology in addition to his artistic pursuits. It’s very interesting that he claims to be able to figure out a person’s astrological sign when meeting them, as I have encountered a couple of other people who can do this as well.

    I would go for Nightscape. Notes: bergamont, geranium, leather

  • I was actually surprised to know that he’s from Southern Germany, like my mother 🙂 i choose Nightscape, with its geranium, jasmine and cedar…

  • anvers 2 with blond woods (cedarwood and sandalwood), amber, musk and lily sound beautiful. Uli’s interest in combining photography with fragrance is very intersting. Great read. thanks for the draw.

  • I’d love to try Nightscape – the combination of jasmine, leather, sesame and honey intrigues me.

  • So much is fascinating here…his grandmother owned a small perfumery, he co-founded Elements and interned at Estee Lauder, to start.

    After looking at all three (and much soul searching) I do believe “anvers2” is the one I would choose. I love rhubarb, cypress and olibanum and would love to experience how Ulrich wove them together…along with the other notes.

    Thank you ULNY for the kind draw and Cafleurebon: for letting us know more about one of the most interesting guys in the Industry! 🙂

  • What i found most fascinating about Ulrich Lang is his name – Ulrich: noble , regal ruler , power of the wolf ;
    power of the home.

    I would like to win Nightscape

  • Fab interview! I find Ulrich’s love of photography and art, especially for introducing his scents, fascinating, and the quote “I am a camera with its shutter open” is haunting. I would love to try Anvers 2, with those lovely notes of Bulgarian rose, vetiver and tonka! Thank you for the draw! 🙂

  • I’m loving the sound of Anvers 2: Rhubarb, Bulgarian rose, and Tonka bean, YUM! Great interview, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Thanks for the draw!

  • i don’t want to double post but i forgot to put in my previous post the three ingredients from the favourite perfume. anvers 2: bulgarian rose, vetiver and tonka. i don’t know if this correction will now make me eligible for the draw, but i’m giving it a try. thank you

  • Ditto what the last poster has just said
    i forgot to add my 3 ingredients from the perfume i would like to win
    Nightscape – Leather – Patchouli – Moss
    What i found most fascinating about ulrich was his name
    Ulrich – noble , regal ruler
    Power of the wolf : power of the home

    once again sorry about the double post

  • I love that you created a perfume in honor of Ernest Hemingway!

    I’d choose Nightscape: violets, patchouli and leather.