7 Questions for...Fabrice Penot, Co-founder of Le Labo

I first encountered Le Labo when I was still working at The Apartment, and the lovely Amber would stop by wafting Rose 31 all around her.  I would say it was the first time I was actually intrigued by a scent.  

I met Fabrice in the spring of last year at his shop in Nolita and since then we've had fascinating discussions on perfume as an art and an industry.  

As the founder of a niche fragrance company with eight years of experience in the corporate perfume world, one of your missions, as stated on your company treatise online, is to fight against “the rising tide of conformity.”  Please explain.

Everything smelled alike in the perfume world, which is supposed to be a place of creativity.  That’s my opinion anyway, though his might be challenged by some people.  I joined perfumery because I like the new, the unexpected, the surprising, the marvelous, and I thought I could be a part of this.  When I realized reality was far from what I expected, I started to be frustrated and unhappy.  I bitched about it, but  I was still part of the system.

That’s when I decided that being the man I wanted to become was to “stop bitching, and start a revolution,” and that’s how Le Labo was born.

Who do you think is the most innovative perfumer today and what is he/she doing to push the boundaries?

With no hesitation, Daphne Buget.  Creation is in her blood and she never gave up with her ideals.  More importantly, she never gave in.

Le Labo sells a notebook scented with Santal 26, and the scent Tubereuse 40 was originally created for Kirsten Dunst to get into character for her role as Marie Antoinette for Sofia Coppola’s film.  Do you think consumers are open to having new and non-traditional sensory experiences with scent?  

I really do, more than we think at least.  More than ever people need to experience wonder through all their senses.  They need to feel alive.  You don’t provide such an experience with a scent that does not evoke anything else than the last fruity floral on the market.

Trust Art is being launched during a recession, but as the name suggests, we can, and still should trust in art.  It’s been said that this time might “cleanse” the consumer market.  Do you think that the current economic climate is affecting the way we think about and purchase perfumes?    

The market is in recession but it does not mean that perfumery as an art is!  I think this crisis is a blessing for perfumery.  It is a catastrophe for the perfume market, but a blessing for perfumery.  This recession could prompt the obligation for brands to deliver more interesting creations in the bottle and merit their prices, which would be an opportunity for perfumery as a whole.  People won’t stop buying, but they’ll buy better.

We live in a fucked up world where we assess the importance and the health of things and people by the amount of money they produce.  Perfumery is not restricted to the perfume market.  It should be an art first, and a market after, at least in the eyes of creators.  As for how business men treat perfumery, that is another issue which i don't have the time or the will to discuss.

Your partner is a holistic nutritionist and you have a young child together.  Do you have a take on synthetic vs. natural ingredients in perfumes?

Oh yes, a long take.  But in a few words, I am a big believer in synthetics.  I disagree with what you say -   that synthetics is only a way to use cheaper ingredients to replace naturals, even if it is true that some companies do.  Among the top four most expensive ingredients we are using,  three of them are synthetics.  

I would also add that synthetics are helping us to get rid of animal cruelty, like the civet for example.  I can already hear the reactions of readers who will say, “ but we don’t kill civets to extact the scent.”  I invite them to do some research on how the civets are treated to do so.

What is Le Labo’s connection to Grasse?

The original idea for Le Labo bloomed there during a training I did with Jean Claude Ellena in the lab he had there at that time.  Le Labo was born in Grasse and raised in NYC.

What were you doing the moment you decided to start Le Labo?  

I was drunk.