Le Labo: The Art of Fragrance, Beautiful Because It Is Imperfect

“We don’t spend money on marketing. We only spend money on perfume.”
(We do not spend money on marketing. We spend it only on perfume.)
— Fabrice Penot, co-founder of Le Labo

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Essential Information

• Brand name: Le Labo, French for “the lab”
• Founded: 2006
• Founded in: 233 Elizabeth Street, Nolita, New York City, USA
• Founders: Fabrice Penot & Eddie Roschi / Edouard Roschi
• Current parent company: The Estée Lauder Companies (acquired in 2014)
• Official website: https://www.lelabofragrances.com
• Official Japanese website: https://www.lelabofragrances.jp

The brand’s catchphrase is “Born in Grasse. Raised in NYC.” Conceived in Grasse in the south of France, a heartland of perfumery, and brought to life in New York, its origins are captured neatly in those words.

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The Founders and the Brand’s Origins

Eddie Roschi: A Young Chemistry Enthusiast from Switzerland

Eddie Roschi was born in Lugano, in Italian-speaking Switzerland. He studied chemical engineering at university, but rather than pursue a career in research, he began to want a more enjoyable job that would still make use of his chemical knowledge.

“I studied chemical engineering, but then I realised I didn’t want to pursue it as a career, so I started shopping around for a job that would be more fun, but enable me to use the chemical knowledge that I had.”
(I studied chemical engineering, but came to realize I did not want it as my career. I began looking for a more enjoyable job that would still let me use my knowledge of chemistry.)
— Eddie Roschi

Through an introduction from a friend, he joined the Swiss fragrance giant Firmenich (in Japanese), working as a sales manager for North Africa and the Middle East. After completing an MBA in Paris in 1999, he moved to the fragrance division of Giorgio Armani Beauty, part of the L’Oréal group. There he met his future co-founder, Fabrice Penot.

Fabrice Penot: From a French Factory Town to Perfumery

Fabrice Penot, meanwhile, grew up in a small town in central France. His father worked in a factory, and he says that cast iron and industrial design were part of his world from childhood.

“My dad was working in a factory in a small place in the center of France, and I have been impacted by industrial design very early on. I love cast iron, I cannot get this out of my system.”
(My father worked in a factory in a small town in central France. Industrial design influenced me from a very early age. I love cast iron; that is something I cannot change.)
— Fabrice Penot

Penot joined the L’Oréal group and spent six years working in fragrance development at Armani. According to Roschi, he worked on the Armani Privé and Acqua di Gio lines. The two men were in positions that brought them into contact with Giorgio Armani himself once a month, and developed a deep friendship through their work.

Disillusionment with Big Business, and a Promise

Through their work at Armani, the pair confronted a problem common to large perfume companies. Development leaned toward marketing-led product planning rather than the pursuit of a beautiful note or a beautiful product.

“We felt it was more about the product versus emotions. With big companies it’s all about product development, not about a beautiful note or a beautiful product. We wanted craftsmanship and storytelling.”
(The big-company approach put products ahead of emotions. It was all product development, rather than a beautiful note or a beautiful product. We wanted craftsmanship and storytelling.)
— Eddie Roschi

A turning point came with a training course held in Grasse, France, by Hermès master perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena (in Japanese). Penot and Roschi both attended, encountering the foundations of perfume-making in Ellena’s laboratory-like setting. It was here that Penot conceived a retail approach in which perfume would be blended in front of the customer.

While still in Grasse, the pair made a promise: one day, they would make perfume their own way.

To Elizabeth Street, New York

In 2006, they finally fulfilled that promise, in New York. Both had already moved their lives to the city, and opened their first boutique at 233 Elizabeth Street in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood.

Remarkably, they started the business with almost no outside funding. Each invested around $100,000, while four close friends contributed a combined sum of roughly $30,000. One friend handed over an entire bonus, and another sold a car to raise the money. Penot gave up his stylish Manhattan apartment and moved into Roschi’s one-bedroom apartment in a six-story walk-up, without an elevator, sleeping on the sofa for eighteen months.

“We probably wouldn’t have gotten a loan with our funny idea anyway. And even more importantly, we wanted to remain independent.”
(We probably would not have secured a loan for such a strange idea anyway. More importantly, we wanted to stay independent.)
— Fabrice Penot

In fact, their fundraising efforts went disastrously. Presenting the idea to executives at a major beauty company, they were dismissed with “Ridiculous!” Their target of selling four bottles a day drew laughter. They were told that “Le Labo” was unpronounceable, and even, “Send me your résumés; I’ll find you a job.”

Unexpected Success

Once they opened, however, events far exceeded their expectations. The boutique broke even within just two months. W magazine devoted a full page to it only three months after opening, and Barneys New York, which they had hoped to approach after two years, came to them with an offer in the fourth month.

“In our business plan we wanted to go to Barneys two years after we opened. They came to us after four months.”
(Our business plan called for approaching Barneys two years after opening. They came to us after four months.)
— Fabrice Penot

Actual sales reportedly exceeded the target of four bottles a day by another sixty-six. By around 2010, Le Labo’s annual revenue had grown to $4.5 million, with four freestanding stores and twelve counters worldwide. Even then, it had only four full-time employees. They worked remotely on laptops, with no corporate office, while around twenty people worked in the stores: a deliberately lean operation.

Acquisition by Estée Lauder

In October 2014, The Estée Lauder Companies announced that it would acquire Le Labo, completing the transaction that November. The terms were not disclosed, but WWD, or Women’s Wear Daily, reported a figure of around $60 million, approximately ¥6 billion. After the acquisition, Penot and Roschi continued to steer its creative direction, and the brand retained its independence.

“I firmly believe that creation is an autocracy, it’s not a democracy.”
(I believe that creation is an autocracy, not a democracy.)
— Eddie Roschi

Speaking to AnOther Magazine, Penot described the acquisition as follows.

“Estée Lauder have been very respectful of that truth, always looking back at the original orders, not overproducing. …they respect the power of silence in a world that can’t stop talking. There’s hope in that.”
(Estée Lauder has shown great respect for our truth, always returning to the original orders and avoiding overproduction. …In a world that cannot stop talking, they respect the power of silence. There is hope in that.)
— Fabrice Penot

Deborah Royer currently serves as Global Brand President and Creative Director.

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The Brand’s Distinctive Commitments

The Manifesto: Unwavering Beliefs

Le Labo’s official website sets out a manifesto that has remained unchanged since the brand’s founding. Here are some excerpts.

“We believe that there are too many bottles of perfume and not enough soulful fragrances.”
(There are too many bottles of perfume, and not enough fragrances with soul.)

“We believe the future of luxury (hence of perfumery) lies in craftsmanship.”
(The future of luxury, and therefore the future of perfumery, lies in craftsmanship.)

“We believe it is more humane to test cosmetics on New Yorkers than on animals.”
(Testing cosmetics on New Yorkers is far more humane than testing them on animals.)

“And we believe that explanation kills art. Therefore, forget about all of this!”
(And we believe that explanation kills art. So forget everything we have just said!)

The manifesto quotes the Persian poet Hafiz, “Act great, dear. Always act great.” It also refers to the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi and to Henry David Thoreau. With uncompromising philosophy and humor side by side, it is a distinctly Le Labo text.

Slow Perfumery

Le Labo defines its approach as “slow perfumery.” New releases are deliberately limited, and completing a single perfume takes at least a year, sometimes several. Roschi says that only 10% of what they attempt ever reaches the customer.

“We rarely launch a new perfume. And when we do, it has to be meaningful.”
(We rarely release a new perfume. When we do, it must be meaningful.)
— Fabrice Penot

The Aesthetics of Wabi-Sabi

Asked in an interview what the hallmark of Le Labo’s fragrances was, Roschi answered as follows.

“The Japanese philosophy of Wabi-sabi, the art of simple living… our scents are beautiful because they are imperfect. They smell like they are unpolished although some have been worked on for years.”
(The Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, the art of living simply. …Our fragrances are beautiful precisely because they are imperfect. Even ones developed over years smell unpolished.)
— Eddie Roschi

That affinity with wabi-sabi continues today: in 2024, the brand opened a new Kyoto store in a restored machiya townhouse built in 1879.

Bottles and Packaging: A “Designer-Free” Aesthetic

Le Labo’s bottle design and visual identity were created by Mazarine Pascalie Design in Paris. A simple, heavy glass bottle paired with a matte metal cap embodies the brand’s industrial spirit. Its white label uses a typewriter-style font to show the fragrance’s name, the blending date and the buyer’s name; the bottle is wrapped in brown paper and handed to the customer.

Intriguingly, no professional designer was involved in Le Labo’s early store design. Penot has recalled the following exchange with designer Philippe Starck.

“Philippe Starck told me once that he would have loved to have done our design. He wanted to know who did it. Truth is, nobody did it. We could not afford it.”
(Philippe Starck told me he would have loved to have done the design, and asked who had done it. The truth was that nobody had. We could not afford to hire a designer.)
— Fabrice Penot

Vegan and Cruelty-Free

All Le Labo products contain no animal-derived ingredients and are also free of parabens and colorants. The brand does not test on animals. Roschi has said that this is a natural extension of the fact that he and Fabrice are themselves vegan. Referring to cruelty on Ethiopian civet farms, he asks why one would not use a synthetic alternative that is 95% equivalent.

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The Fragrance Collections

The Naming Convention

Le Labo perfumes follow a distinctive naming convention: the name of the principal fragrance material plus the total number of ingredients in the composition. Santal 33, for example, centers on sandalwood and consists of thirty-three ingredients, while Tonka 25 centers on tonka bean and contains twenty-five. The sole exception is Another 13, named after AnOther Magazine.

Penot explains the naming approach as follows.

“We don’t want anything to distract from the actual fragrance itself.”
(We do not want anything that distracts attention from the scent itself.)
— Fabrice Penot

The Classic Collection

Le Labo’s regular line, the Classic Collection, currently comprises around twenty eaux de parfum, all unisex. Representative examples are listed below.

Fragrance	Characteristics
Santal 33	A woody amber woven from sandalwood, cardamom and leather. The brand’s “poster child.”
Rose 31	Spicy rose combined with synthetic ambergris: a contemporary rose for all genders, and an early bestseller.
Another 13	A pure, minimalist composition consisting of 90% ambroxan, a synthetic musk. Created in collaboration with AnOther Magazine.
Thé Noir 29	A smoky, sweet black-tea fragrance, highly popular in the fragrance community.
Bergamote 22	A refreshing citrus fragrance centered on bergamot.
Fleur d’Oranger 27	A radiant orange-blossom floral.

The collection continues to expand steadily, with fragrances such as Thé Matcha 26 and one of its newest creations, Violette 30.

The Story of Santal 33

Santal 33 brought Le Labo worldwide recognition. Yet the fragrance’s creation involved many twists and turns.

Santal was originally proposed as a wearable perfume by Firmenich senior perfumer Frank Voelkl. But Penot and Roschi left it out of the lineup when the brand launched in 2006, releasing it as a candle instead: Santal 26. The Santal 26 candle and room spray were a huge success, accounting for around 70% of the brand’s revenue during its first two or three years.

Around 2010, as its popularity grew, Penot and Roschi asked Voelkl to develop a perfume version. After repeated refinements, it was released as Santal 33 in 2011. Looking back on the development process, Penot says that something began to happen around modification number 93.

“Something started to kick in around modification number 93. I felt we had something there that had the potential to be powerful. Then I got lost in hundreds of other trials to realize that the theme we had in 93 was lost. We decided to throw away a year of work and start back from there.”
(Something started to happen around modification 93. I sensed powerful potential. But then I got lost in hundreds of further trials and lost sight of the theme we had in number 93. We decided to discard a year’s work and begin again from there.)
— Fabrice Penot

Santal 33 was eventually worn by celebrities including Selena Gomez, Meghan Markle and Brad Pitt, becoming a cultural phenomenon: “that smell” encountered on New York street corners and in luxury-hotel lobbies. Penot himself, however, has mixed feelings about its success.

“The worst thing that can happen to a perfume is the smell of fear. …We launched Santal by putting it on a table one day and waiting for it to grow up.”
(The worst thing that can happen to a perfume is the smell of fear. …With Santal, we simply put it on a table one day and waited for it to grow.)
— Fabrice Penot

The City Exclusive Collection

Another signature Le Labo offering is its City Exclusive Collection. These perfumes are composed as tributes to individual cities and are normally available only in their respective cities. Once a year, for the month of September only, they are sold at Le Labo stores around the world and online.

The current lineup includes Gaiac 10 (Tokyo), Vanille 44 (Paris), Tubéreuse 40 (New York), Poivre 23 (London), Musc 25 (Los Angeles), Cuir 28 (Dubai), Bigarade 18 (Hong Kong), Mousse de Chêne 30 (Amsterdam), Cedrat 37 (Berlin), Tabac 28 (Miami), Citron 28 (Seoul), Baie Rose 26 (Chicago), Aldehyde 44 (Dallas), Limette 37 (San Francisco), and the latest addition, Myrrhe 55 (Shanghai).

Explaining the concept, Penot recalls opening Tokyo as the brand’s second store.

“You have no idea what it meant to us when we flew to open our store in Tokyo: We arrived and sat on the sidewalk in front of this store and had tears in our eyes. Creating a perfume to honor that was important to us, even if it would never make financial sense.”
(You cannot imagine what it meant to us to fly to Tokyo to open a store. We arrived, sat on the pavement outside and cried. Creating a perfume to honor that place mattered to us, even if it made no financial sense.)
— Fabrice Penot

Tokyo’s City Exclusive, Gaiac 10, became a bestseller in Japan despite costing twice as much as the regular collection, and has recorded the highest worldwide sales among the City Exclusives.

The Perfumers

At the heart of the perfumers, or noses, who have created Le Labo’s fragrances is Firmenich senior perfumer Frank Voelkl. Born in Germany and raised in France, Voelkl met Penot around 2002 while working at Symrise and was closely involved from Le Labo’s conceptual stage. He has created many of the brand’s defining fragrances, including Santal 33, Ylang 49, Musc 25 and Benjoin 19.

Other veteran perfumers involved in Le Labo creations include Françoise Caron and Maurice Roucel (in Japanese).

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Incidentally…

• Philippe Starck’s envy: The world-famous designer asked who had designed Le Labo, saying that he would have loved to do it himself. The answer was “nobody”: there had been no money to hire a designer.
• Kirsten Dunst and Marie Antoinette: About two years before Le Labo launched, Penot happened to meet actress Kirsten Dunst in a Paris nightclub. Hearing that she was in Paris filming Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, he declared, “Marie Antoinette was the first queen to have her own perfumer. You need a fragrance of your own too!” The resulting perfume would become Tubéreuse 40, the New York City Exclusive.
• An 85% customer-loyalty rate: Data suggests that around 85% of Le Labo’s customers are loyal to the brand. The Brander called it a figure most marketing managers could only dream of.
• The story behind Another 13: Sarah Andelman of the legendary Paris concept store Colette brought Le Labo together with AnOther Magazine editor-in-chief Jefferson Hack for a collaboration. Initially limited to 500 bottles sold exclusively at Colette, the perfume joined the Classic Collection when Colette closed in 2017. Of the ambroxan, or white musk, that makes up 90% of the formula, Penot says it is “architectural and pure, like a Californian house on a cliff.”
• “The smell of fear”: Penot argues that major-brand fragrances fail to move people because enormous advertising budgets make the financial risks too great, leaving brands afraid of olfactory adventure. His memorable conclusion is that “the worst thing that can happen to a perfume is the smell of fear.”

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