Signal 001: How Storytelling is Reshaping the Fragrance Category

Welcome to Issue 001 of Signals. To learn more about the approach to this publication, you can read our Editor’s Letter.

The days of fragrance behind a glass counter in a mall department store are behind us.

And nowhere is that clearer than in downtown Manhattan. Le Labo has taken residence on the Lower East Side alongside independent boutiques such as Susan Alexandra, Sandy Liang, and homeware shop Coming Soon, while also becoming Equinox’s newest amenity partner. Late last month, just two-hundred-and-fifty feet up Orchard Street, Seoul-based fragrance brand NONFICTION opened its first US store. Designed by Charlap Hyman and Herrero, the space features limewashed walls, oxblood tiled floors, and a sink area with custom tiling hand-painted by artist Pilar Almon. A short walk away in Soho, Vyrao hosted an experiential pop-up on Mercer St, describing it as an “immersive installation explor[ing] the materialization of energy, emotion, and nature within physical space.”

Left: NONFICTION, shot by Sean Davidson. Right: Vyrao, shot by Bridget Beyer.

Meanwhile, in Nolita, perfumer Asia Grant unites the fragrance-curious with fragrance-enthusiasts on her perfume tour, leading guests through a series of perfume shops, including brands like D.S. and Durga and Commodity, and Stéle, a multi-brand destination for international independent fragrance houses. Before the tour, guests fill out a form answering prompts like, How do you want to be remembered? alongside more structured questions about preferred notes. Grant then translates those responses into a printed, wax-sealed curation of fragrances to try at each stop.

But it’s not just our streets that have been infiltrated with notes of bergamot and cedarwood; it’s also our feeds. UK-based brand Ffern publishes elaborate, surrealist short-form films on Instagram, treating storytelling and world-building as non-negotiables. On TikTok, #PerfumeTok has surpassed 5.2 billion views, and a Unilever survey found that 56% of Gen Z buy fragrances they see on social media without smelling them, which can really only point to one culprit: the power of brand-building.

These conversations online are reshaping how people wear scent altogether. Creators talk about fragrance layering the way they might talk about getting dressed: a base note for daytime, something warmer for the evening, and a skin scent for intimacy. The coveted “signature scent” has evolved into something far more nuanced, and brands are, unsurprisingly, following suit. The Business of Fashion recently reported that layering is one of the defining shifts in the category, noting an entirely new class of fragrance: “primers,” designed to sit beneath and amplify other scents.

To better understand how creators are shaping the way fragrances are discovered, discussed, and ultimately purchased, I spoke with creator Emese Gormley, whose audience consistently converts on fragrance recommendations across both niche and heritage brands. While there are creators whose platforms are dedicated entirely to scent, Gormley’s approach reflects something more culturally telling: fragrance has moved into the mainstream conversation of style content.

“I can trace key phases of my life back to specific fragrances,” she told me, recalling everything from her first bottle of Issey Miyake in high school to the scents that marked early adulthood, like a first job. In a way, fragrance becomes a marker of personal timelines.

That intimacy lends conviction to the recommendation itself. “When people like one scent you share, it builds an immediate trust factor,” she said. In a category that cannot be experienced through a screen, audiences are relying entirely on the taste and perspective of the person sharing it.

ShopMy’s data reinforces not just that fragrance is growing, but why it is. Across the platform, the brands and products that continue to perform are the ones that have successfully built a narrative consumers want to buy into, from the emotional draw of Phlur, the layering rituals popularized by Dedcool, or the enduring identities of luxury brands like Byredo and Le Labo. The same pattern shows up with Sol de Janeiro, whose December GMV increased 23x over November, a surge that closely mirrors its TikTok virality and underscores how storytelling can directly drive points of purchase. What’s most interesting is that the common denominator here isn’t price point or even linking volume. It’s trust.

At a time when people are increasingly seeking connection and shared identity, it makes sense that fragrance has become so culturally charged. Of all five senses, scent may be the most immediate conduit to a specific time, place, or even a former version of yourself. That visceral quality is what makes fragrance so uniquely suited to storytelling, and why creators have become such effective translators of the category.

What was once a singular bottle on a dresser has evolved into something far more layered. The fragrance category no longer moves through beauty counters alone: the product may spark curiosity, but it is story and trust that ultimately close the sale.