It doesn’t matter if you walk around Williamsburg, through the Lower Eastside or up to Chelsea – it feels like New Yorkers breathe Le Labo – the perfume brand’s fragrances linger in the air like bearded guys do in organic cafés (or, the brands own coffee bar). Le Labo build up an image of New York-cool, through their scents and overall style. 

Melodically creaking wooden floors, raw walls with poetically fluttering paint or artfully broken metro tiles, heavy, cold brew-colored oak boards, steel and glass dividing the store space and the trademark lab (where each purchased perfume is bottled):
Le Labo’s headquarter, including their office, store and café, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, displays the essence of the brand’s aesthetics and philosophy perfectly.

The flair lies somewhere between a painter’s atelier and a whiskey distillery, and you sense that an unique product is (hand-)made here. Right after the moment you unlock the metal cap from one of the bottles to try a scent, the vision is fulfilled: Each scent, be it with woody notes or floral takes, is indeed extra special.

Le Labo, found 2006 by Eddie Roschi and Fabrice Penot were the first who took luxurious perfume out of the gold glistening boudoir – and drenched it in a New-York-cool style, from marketing and design to the actual scent. Even after being sold to Estée Lauder, Le Labo kept their unique DNA. Ahead of their time, all products have been vegan from the start, are free of paraben, preservatives or coloration, and are not tested on animals.

We talked to the founders about their motivation and inspiration.