Last May, I wrote an article introducing the Perfume Sisterhood of the West Coast, a vibrant group of women who had hopes of making the West Coast a recognized force in perfumery. It has been an eventful year, and I wanted to not only revisit the thoughts and hopes of that time, but examine the year gone by to the present and see how far we have come in such a short period.

I recently approached two of the perfumers instrumental in creating the community of West Coast perfumers to recollect their feelings of the beginnings of the movement. One of the doyennes of the craft, Mandy Aftel of Aftelier Perfumes, expressed her pleasure at the growth of artisanal perfumery since the publication of her book “Essence & Alchemy” in 2001:

I love that all of this is taking place on the West Coast, a place I’ve always found to encourage free-thinking artistic creativity, a connection to the beauty of the natural world, and a sense of community. It’s been exciting to see the great camaraderie and cross-fertilization in the community of perfumers out here, and to play a role in it. Now I see the larger world – not just perfumistas but lots of people – taking a growing interest in the work of indie perfumers.

Yosh Han, the perfumer behind Yosh, was seeing an opportunity in the making:

As I grew my perfume business and started traveling internationally for work, I saw a real void in American representation overseas and saw an absence of West Coast acknowledgement on the East Coast where the 'Big Players' tended to marginalize 'whatever is happening on the Left Coast.' I felt that there was a cool movement that was largely underground happening in my own backyard and wanted some events to go to where I didn't have to get on a plane. I think there's also a wonderful casual intimate vibe on the West Coast that captures the spirit of what we do. Over the years, I met a bunch of cool folks from California, mostly women, that I wanted to know better and introduce to each other. I started small, with private breakfasts, and it just sort of evolved from there. My greatest wish is to have Californian perfumery or West Coast perfumery be as recognized as much as Californian wines or Californian cuisine.

Shortly after my piece about the Sisterhood of the West Coast appeared, the first Artisan Fragrance Salon, produced by Taste TV, was held in San Francisco. It was one of the first opportunities for a gathering of West Coast perfumers, and the excitement was palpable. There was sheer delight in these peers to finally be meeting, socializing, and experiencing each other’s work. New perfumers who were just launching, or who had been on the outskirts, were gathered into the fold.

As part of my research into the first article, I formed a Facebook group for women perfumers on the West Coast, but it soon became apparent that it was not only important to keep the group open, but to expand the group to include men. Brent Leonesio of Smell Bent was the only male perfumer at the first San Francisco Salon, and until the group opened up to men, he was made an honorary “sister” so he could discuss event strategy. Not even a year later, my little group, which started with a membership of about 15, recently grew to 60 members, at least a dozen of them men. All of the members are perfumers on the West Coast, which I describe as the West Coast of the Americas, from Alaska to Chile (including Hawai’i). It has been exciting watching the membership expand to include such a wealth of talent, and the perfumers appreciate a private forum to have conversations about their business.

Yosh Han got the ball rolling on the events front with a conversation with Taste TV, and there have been four Artisan Fragrance Salons so far. The West Coast Salons have been learning experiences for all involved, with varying success, but it can be said that they have all been a good time. With each new event, I discover new perfume talent, and I’m excited to see who comes out of the woodwork to be noticed.

Although the San Francisco Bay Area could be described as the birthplace of the recent perfume uprising, Seattle and Los Angeles are grabbing the bull by the horns and creating their own communities. House of Matriarch perfumer Christi Meshell organized Seattle Sniff (named after my own bi-annual event, SF Sniff):

After attending a collaborative Perfumer's event in San Francisco, I returned home inspired to create a similar community here in Seattle. The goal: work together to put the Northwest on the world fragrance map. In just one year, Seattle Sniff has blossomed to include over 30 fragrance artisans, several Seattle retailers and hundreds of fans.  Now, fragrance enthusiasts have a Seattle fragrance events forum, and through collaborations like the NW Independent Perfumer's Circuit and the Experience Perfume Project, local Perfumers are gaining international recognition, pushing the envelope of the art, demystifying the perfume business and leading a worldwide fragrance revolution!

In Los Angeles, we have seen the opening of the Institute for Art and Olfaction, offering classes, lectures, a library and other resources for the perfume and art community. Founded by Saskia Wilson-Brown, the goal of the IAO is to support what she sees is a renaissance of independent perfume-making, and to meld the science and art of scent with other forms of creativity and deliver the results to a broader audience.

Also in Los Angeles, Maggie Mahboubian, of Lalun Naturals, is organizing an event series called FRAGments, which will debut on June 22nd:

After completing two salons it was clear there was a vibrant community of perfume enthusiasts, but no venue that lived up to the high quality of work that was being presented.  I felt a small-scale event that allowed viewers to experience and savor the work would be appropriate. The first FRAGments event will present a curated overview of artisan perfume as art.

Artisan perfumery is an open road.  There is so much yet to explore and ground to cover.  This is just the beginning of a fertile period that is yielding interesting, thought-provoking and ground-breaking work.  Hopefully perfumers will be inspired to push boundaries and even explore the medium across disciplines. 

I am excited to see what is ahead for the perfume community. Mandy Aftel is at work on a new book that could inspire a whole new influx of talent. Future events hold the promise of introducing perfume enthusiasts to new levels of craft. The opportunities for collaboration and exploration are vast. I am happy to have been able to make my contribution to assembling the community and am humbled to watch it grow and take flight before my eyes. My nose is excited, too, and can’t wait to smell what’s next.

–Tama Blough, Senior Editor