vintage perfumes

[The five By the Creators of Le Labo scents, in spray and solid version]

It smelled festive, like heady musk and Christmas, when I walked into the Anthropologie store at Chelsea Market. Fragrance house Le Labo‘s creators Fabrice Penot and Edouard Roschi had paired with Anthropologie to make the new set of scents, By the Creators of Le Labo. Five amazing scents are now available — Orange Discrète (citrus), Chant de Bois (woodsy, yet feminine), Belle Du Soir (the musk of which I spoke earlier), Poudre D’Orient (talc-y and soft), and Bouquet Blanc (floral heaven).

The finished product looks right at home at Anthropologie, and is the realization of their intent, according to Penot, “to achieve an emotion for an era for which we are nostalgic.” The amber bottles are based on a vintage poison bottle found online; the containers for the solid perfumes on antique measuring weights; the lids inspired by a team member’s grandmother’s earring; even the labels, inspired by vintage stamps, were roughed up with a little espresso and sugar during a brainstorming meeting.

Their fragrances were formulated not with a specific audience, but as neutral scents that can go for a man or a woman. “We truly believe that a great scent doesn’t have any gender,” insists Penot. For them, the question is, “how do we make the person more beautiful?”

You can pick up one, or all five, of the By the Creators of Le Labo scents at your nearest Anthropologie store or online, in a price range of $28-$62.