Commissions

Bespoke compositions

Twice a year the perfumer accepts one private commission: a perfume composed for one person, or one occasion, over a process that runs eight to fourteen months.

A commission begins with conversations, not a brief. The perfumer asks what the perfume is for, who will wear it, where its first wearing will happen, and what it must never smell like. The answers are usually contradictions, which is a good sign: commissions are for the things a ready-made cannot do.

Three trial rounds follow, smelled together at the atelier or by post with notes. The finished composition is pressed once, for one person, and the formula is then retired permanently. It will never appear in the cabinet, which is the point.

"A bespoke perfume is a portrait. You do not commission a portrait to look like someone else." — M. Vance

The practicalities

Timeline

8 to 14 months

From first conversation to the single pressing. Rushing a commission is possible and discouraged.

Cost

From $9,500

Materials, trials, and the pressing. The price is quoted after the second conversation, never before, because the composition decides it.

Exclusivity

One pressing, ever

The formula is retired the day yours is bottled. It is not licensed, recreated, or resold.

Slots

Two per year

The 2027 slots open in January. The wait list usually fills within a week of the announcement.

Enquire

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