19-69 NINETEEN SIXTY NINE: Brand Introduction

“There are many unreasonable things in the world today. But I have also discovered things that bring people together. They might be fashion and music, or art and fragrance.”

— Johan Bergelin, founder

Basic Information
The Founder and the Brand’s Origins
The Brand’s Commitments
The Fragrance Lineup
1. The Original Collection
2. Collaborations
By the Way…

Basic Information

Founded: 2015, by Johan Bergelin and his wife, Catharina
Launched: 2017, at Colette in Paris
Founder: Johan Bergelin
Official website: nineteen-sixtynine.com

A note on pronouncing the brand name: although written “19-69,” its official pronunciation is “Nineteen Sixty Nine.” In Japan, it is often written as a continuous katakana rendering of “Nineteen Sixty Nine.”

The Founder and the Brand’s Origins

A Boy Who Grew Up in a Hippie Household

Johan Bergelin was born in Sweden in 1969. He has said that he “grew up with hippie parents, absorbing those values along the way.” His affinity for freedom, tolerance, and counterculture was rooted in his upbringing.

Bergelin left school at 15. Convinced that “an ordinary job without creativity at its core would not be for me,” he went on to pursue many forms of expression, including painting, photography, hairstyling, and music. Based in Scandinavia, he also worked on photography and abstract painting in France and Italy. By the time of the interview, his career as an artist already spanned at least 35 years.

Particularly striking is the specificity of his experiences with perfume. “Issey Miyake’s L’Eau d’Issey is number one for me. It was something I had never smelled before, yet there was something very familiar about it. That is now my goal in the creative process at 19-69,” he says, revealing how deeply his relationship with fragrance had taken root in his younger years.

An Artist’s Travels Around the World

As Bergelin traveled the world as an artist, he encountered and was drawn to the beauty of different cultures across national borders. An experience touring Moroccan markets by taxi over three days, befriending a local driver and flipping a coin to decide where to go, later found expression in the fragrance Kasbah. In Key West, Florida, he befriended a guitarist called “Keenak,” who wore a feather in his hat and snakeskin cowboy boots. The smell of patchouli and weed filling the guitarist’s trailer became the inspiration for Purple Haze.

For Bergelin, these journeys were more than sightseeing. Encounters with the culture, music, and art of different places moved him, gradually building an urge to give those experiences a tangible form one day.

A Brand That Began at the Kitchen Table

In 2015, Bergelin and his wife, Catharina, decided to “create a brand that embodies the spirit of freedom and counterculture.” Their starting point, he says, was the kitchen table.

“When we started the brand, one thing was clear: the market did not need another perfume brand. I have always seen 19-69 as an art project. It just happened to become a business.”

— Johan Bergelin

The launch budget was just €500. The couple worked every day for two and a half years. “It put a great deal of pressure on us, but we believed in what we were doing,” he recalls. Alongside this effort, they spent 24 months developing five perfumes with artisans in Scandinavia, France, and Italy.

During this creative process, Bergelin formed a team with partners Silas and Marco. Silas described Bergelin’s approach at the time as “Johan’s Rain Man method.”

“Johan is an artist and a photographer. Photography is about three things: patience, planning, and an understanding of light. These are exactly the principles we applied to 19-69, because he understands what it means to undertake work that cannot be corrected afterward. You need a clear vision from the beginning and the commitment to get it right. That is why we miss the pre-internet brain. The internet has encouraged young people to put out content and release products before they are ready. Johan knows the value of patience.”

— Silas, partner at 19-69

2017: Launching at Colette in Paris

In August 2017, 19-69 unveiled five perfumes at the legendary Paris concept store Colette. It was a historically significant moment, as Colette would close at the end of that year. Choosing this location as the brand’s first stage neatly expressed its cultural position.

Following its launch, 19-69 expanded into 19 countries, including France, the United States, Belgium, and Italy, and began appearing at prestigious retailers such as Selfridges, Galeries Lafayette, and Liberty London. It first arrived in Japan in July 2020, launching at Hankyu Men’s Tokyo and retailers including United Arrows, TOMORROWLAND, and Super A Market.

By 2025, 19-69 had established its first flagship store at Via Borgospesso 18 in Milan’s Golden Triangle. The decision to settle as a small brand in an area neighboring Ferragamo and Celine reflects a distinctly 19-69 philosophy. As Bergelin himself puts it, “Within a limited budget, those constraints become the store’s personality.”

The Brand’s Commitments

“Smell Has No Gender”: A Genderless Philosophy

All 19-69 fragrances are genderless. This was not a marketing decision, but something that emerged naturally from the brand’s values.

“Creating genderless fragrances was not an active decision for us. It simply happened naturally as part of the brand’s values and integrity. Every scent is for everyone.”

— Johan Bergelin

Bergelin continues: “The nose has no gender. It is not different for men and women. So I cannot accept the idea that we need to divide things into two. That separation no longer makes sense.”

The Fragrance-Making Process: A Journey That Starts with a Story

Creating a 19-69 perfume begins with writing a “story brief.” That brief is handed to the perfumers, or noses, who refine the fragrance over time.

“I wanted to take an old-school approach. Many fragrances over the past decade or so have become very light. We wanted to set ourselves apart by returning to traditional notes with presence. For each fragrance, we tried at least 100 variations before getting the scent right.”

— Johan Bergelin

This iterative process of refinement was carried out by perfumers from France, Italy, and Sweden, including Anne-Sophie Behaghel, Dario Volpones, and Amélie Bourgeois.

Bottles and Packaging: A Rainbow Philosophy

19-69’s glass bottles are lacquered and screen-printed in Italy. Each bottle has a different color, and the full collection forms a rainbow when arranged together. Used as a symbol of “peace and freedom” in 1969, the rainbow distills the brand’s ideals.

Every fragrance is handmade, and “slight variations should be accepted as part of its character.” Each box also contains a booklet titled “Fragrance Journey,” telling the story that inspired the scent. All products are vegan and cruelty-free.

A Commitment to Materials

The brand’s policy is to scrutinize and carefully select all raw materials to ensure the highest quality. Bergelin describes an “obsession with top notes” as one of his defining traits as a creator, saying, “The moment of the first spray is the entrance.”

The Fragrance Lineup

Every 19-69 fragrance has a particular era, culture, place, or event at the heart of its story. Here, the range is introduced in two broad groups: the “19-69 Original Collection” and “Collaborations.”

The Original Collection

Since its launch in 2017, the collection has grown to more than 20 creations. Each perfume has a clearly defined event or place as its inspiration, embodying what Bergelin himself calls “social commentary through fragrance.” The following are some representative creations.

Purple Haze
A tribute to Woodstock in 1969, the hippie movement, and creative freedom. Earthy and warm, it layers cannabis, patchouli, and dry cypress with black pepper and bergamot.

Capri
Inspired by Jean-Luc Godard’s film Contempt (1963), starring Brigitte Bardot and filmed at Casa Malaparte on the island of Capri. A fresh citrus fragrance evoking Mediterranean sunshine.

Kasbah
A creation dedicated to Marrakech’s colorful party scene in the 1960s and 1970s. It embodies the spirit of freedom and transgression that Bergelin experienced during his three-day trip to Morocco. A woody fragrance with oriental spices.

Rainbow Bar
Taking the real-life Rainbow Bar & Grill on Los Angeles’s Sunset Strip as its motif, this fragrance expresses the excitement of 1980s glam rock and the West Coast lifestyle of the 1960s and 1970s. It combines elemi, bergamot, bourbon, and vetiver.

L’air Barbès
A tribute to Paris inspired by Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic Le Smoking tuxedo suit and Helmut Newton’s black-and-white photography. It is characterized by mineral scents of concrete and ink.

Female Christ
Inspired by the 1969 performance artwork in which artist Lene Adler Petersen walked naked through the Copenhagen Stock Exchange carrying a cross. An earthy, woody fragrance.

Chinese Tobacco
A fragrance capturing the atmosphere of a moment when East meets West and old meets new. Inspired by Francis Ford Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now, it features tobacco, cedarwood, oud, and vetiver.

American Psycho
Released in 2025. Based on Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel, this is its first official perfume, created collaboratively by Ellis and Bergelin over several months. Combining bergamot, sage, and jasmine with a sparkling-water-like accord, they sought a scent that protagonist Patrick Bateman “would actually wear.” Ellis and Bergelin are reportedly also working on further collaborations.

Collaborations

Palm Angels × 19-69 (2021)
A collaboration with the Italian fashion label Palm Angels. The energy of California inspired three fragrances: Orange Kush, evoking the origins of skateboarding; Burning Palm, evoking Los Angeles noir; and Cacti, evoking Joshua Tree.

Inter (Inter Milan) × 19-69 (2025)
A collaboration with the celebrated Italian football club Inter Milan. Inspired by Milan, a base for both brands, it introduced two fragrances: Inter 19-08 Black and Inter 19-08 Blue.

By the Way…

The Challenge of a “Ketchup Perfume”
In a 2024 interview, Bergelin revealed that he was attempting to turn Heinz ketchup into an eau de parfum. “It is an everyday thing in the kitchen, but it has a wonderful history. There is also the connection to Andy Warhol. It is a difficult challenge, but that is what makes it rewarding,” he said. He added, however, that he had “not got there yet.”

The Rainbow Beach Hut
The “mood board” for 19-69’s world was reportedly the Bergelin family’s beach hut. Bergelin and his wife, Catharina, painted the aging hut in rainbow colors, created an enormous white peace sign using a hula hoop, and wrote “A human family” on it. Their gesture resonated with those around them, giving the couple confidence in the aesthetic that would become the core of 19-69.

An Encounter with Kevin Costner
Actor Kevin Costner reportedly connected with the brand after taking a liking to the Rainbow Bar body wash he used at a hotel, and attended a presentation in Milan in 2026. His choice is said to have surprised Bergelin himself.

References