Son Venïn: Alluring as Venom, Nordic Fragrances from Oslo

“Scent memories, Nordic heritage and the democratic spirit inherited from Scandinavians: these are what move and inspire me.”

— Dag Solhaug Laska, founder of Son Venïn

Essential Information

Year founded: 2016
Place founded: Oslo, Norway
Founders: Dag Solhaug Laska and Svein Haakon Lia (according to Bleed’s official introduction). Some retailer materials also include Kjell Reenskaug, but his role could not be confirmed in official brand information.
Official website: https://sonvenin.com
Headquarters: Dronningens gate 15, 0152 Oslo, Norway

(For the pronunciation of the brand name, see “The Meaning of the Brand Name” below.)

The Founders and the Origins of the Brand

The Ability to Show and to Evoke, Refined in a Design Studio

To understand the background to Son Venïn, we must begin with a design studio called Bleed. Founded jointly in Oslo in June 2000 by Dag Solhaug Laska and Svein Haakon Lia, Bleed is a multidisciplinary design consultancy. Covering a wide range of fields, including brand identity development, art direction, packaging design and interactive design, it has won numerous awards in Norway and internationally.

Dag Laska spent around 21 years at Bleed, from 2000 to 2021, as creative director and founding partner. Fellow founding partner Svein Haakon Lia also has numerous international design awards to his name, including honors from the Art Directors Club, Type Directors Club, European Design Awards and Red Dot Award. Bleed later opened an office in Vienna and has worked with an impressive roster of clients, including NRK, the Norwegian broadcaster, Hermès, Sony PlayStation and the National Museum of Norway.

What the two men built over years of design work was more than the ability to create a visual identity from scratch. Their long careers presumably also nurtured a sensitivity to the question of how deeply concepts and sensory experiences can be connected.

A Brand Born from a “Creative Playground”

Bleed’s official website describes the birth of Son Venïn as follows:

“Born at Bleed, founded by Dag Laska and Svein Haakon Lia, Son Venïn is the embodiment of our passion for minimalist design and the evocative power of scent.”
(Born at Bleed and founded by Dag Laska and Svein Haakon Lia, Son Venïn embodies a passion for minimalist design and for the evocative power of scent.)

Son Venïn began as a place for creative experimentation within the commercial design studio Bleed. In an interview, Dag Laska defines the brand this way:

“Son Venin is my creative playground turned into a workplace. It serves as the epicentre of my creativity, encapsulating the essence of Nordic values such as inclusion, equality, attitude, and quality.”
(Son Venin is a creative playground that became a workplace. It is the center of my creativity, embodying the essence of Nordic values: inclusion, equality, attitude and quality.)

The idea for the brand grew out of Laska’s genuine passion for the power of olfactory memory. He says in an interview: “One of my most powerful memories is the smell when my two children were born. The smell of the body and that distinctive newborn scent. It evokes something vast, something like deeply positive love. It is impossible to put into words, but for anyone with a loved one, it is a smell with enormous power.”

A Journey to the South of France and Encounters with Perfumers

As the brand gained momentum, Laska and his team faced a question: how could a Nordic design philosophy be expressed in the language of scent? In search of an answer, they headed to Grasse in the south of France, known as the birthplace of French perfumery.

Grasse brings together some of the world’s finest perfumers. Son Venïn began collaborating with leading perfumers there, translating its ideas into olfactory compositions. Among the details that can be confirmed is that its signature fragrance Posthume was composed by Rosine Courage of Sozio.

This dialogue between north and south, where Norwegian design meets the expertise of perfumers in the south of France, is the story at the heart of Son Venïn.

2020: The Moment the World Took Notice

In 2020, Son Venïn reached an important milestone in the fragrance industry. Its perfume Posthume won Gold in the Independent Category at the Art and Olfaction Awards, organized by the Los Angeles-based nonprofit Institute for Art and Olfaction. Judged blind, these awards honor excellence in international artisan, experimental and independent perfumery and are regarded as one of the most prestigious forms of recognition for independent brands.

Saskia Wilson-Brown, founder and director of the organization, describes the judging process and the significance of the award as follows:

“Son Venïn Posthume won the Art and Olfaction Award after an exhaustive process of judging. The scores for the perfume were consistently very high, propelling it into the finals round where it gained one of the two top spots in the category in a blind judging process. Posthume won the Art and Olfaction Award on the merit of its technical and creative achievement, and Son Venïn is a pioneer for Norwegian perfumery: this is the first time a perfume created in Norway has won the award.”

(Son Venïn’s Posthume won the Art and Olfaction Award after a thorough judging process. It consistently received very high scores, reaching the final round and securing one of the category’s top two places in blind judging. The award recognizes its technical and creative achievements, and Son Venïn is a pioneer of Norwegian perfumery. This is the first time a perfume created in Norway has won this award.)

— Saskia Wilson-Brown, founder and director of the Institute for Art and Olfaction

The statement that this was the first perfume created in Norway to win the award points to Son Venïn’s pioneering position in Norwegian perfume history. Following this recognition, its fragrances came to appear in luxury perfume boutiques around the world, from Tokyo to New York.

What Matters to the Brand

A Philosophy of Fragrance: Democracy and Individuality

Son Venïn’s official website sets out the thinking at the brand’s core in simple terms: “Our roots are grounded in Scandinavian thought and culture. Inspiration comes from all over the world, based on memories, places and visual connotations, with an approach to creating contemporary scents inspired by the democratic spirit of Scandinavians.”

The word “democratic” is essential to understanding this brand. Its first manifestation is that all the perfumes are unisex, scents for any gender. The idea that “gender certainly matters, but what is more important is to see people as individuals; people should decide for themselves how they want to smell” embodies the egalitarian outlook of Nordic culture.

The brand also has its own thinking about complexity in fragrance. Even its simplest perfumes contain around 30 components, while the most complex have at least 70. “We treat a perfume as a child. They are all different and will lead different lives. But they will always be members of the family.”

Bottles and Packaging: Embodying Nordic Minimalism

Son Venïn’s visuals directly reflect the design philosophy refined at Bleed. Clear, spherical glass bottles and concise, predominantly monochrome typography embody the “less is more” spirit characteristic of Nordic design. As Bleed’s official page puts it, the brand is an “embodiment of a passion for minimalist design and the evocative power of scent.” From packaging to the typography of fragrance names, everything is designed as a consistent, monolithic, unified visual series.

An Approach to Sustainability

Son Venïn also takes a clear position on the ethical aspects of its products. All spray perfumes are vegan-friendly and cruelty-free, with no animal testing. No colorants are added (“what you see is simply what it is”), and additives are kept to a minimum through an approach combining synthetic and natural materials. The brand also states a policy of reducing plastic and mixed materials and prioritizing local development wherever possible. All products are registered in the CPNP, the EU cosmetics safety-regulation database, and comply with EU regulations. It also openly discloses that its solid perfumes use beeswax and are therefore not vegan.

The Fragrance Lineup

The Son Venïn collection comes in two formats: eau de parfum (EDP, 50 ml) and solid perfume (3 g, refillable). All are designed as unisex fragrances, moving freely between Nordic purity and the sensuality of the Mediterranean and continental Europe. Here are some representative creations.

The Flagship: Posthume

A fragrance that can be called the face of the brand. Conceived as “the scent of Nordic heritage, shaped by thousands of years of cold climate and extreme nature,” it attempts to recreate in scent the tar of sacred buildings and the textures of the natural surroundings.

Cinnamon opens the composition, followed by a heart of clove and tobacco, then a base of vanilla, leather, vetiver, tonka bean and a smoke accord. The perfumer is Rosine Courage. It won Gold in the Independent Category of the Art and Olfaction Awards in 2020.

Two Fragrances Named with Numbers: 0905 (“Zero-Kyū Zero-Go”) and 3007 (“San-Zero Zero-Nana”)

These two fragrances are designed as “couple fragrances.” According to NOSE SHOP, the authorized Japanese retailer, 0905 (May 9) is named after the founders’ birthday, while 3007 (July 30) takes its name from the birthday of one founder’s wife. Despite having entirely different characters, the two are said to have been designed to mingle over time and harmonize more beautifully.

0905 is spicy and leathery, opening with ginger, cardamom and sagebrush, moving into a heart of dried lavender, pine sap and leather, and settling into a base of amber and cedarwood. 3007 has a soft floral composition, flowing from neroli and orange blossom in the top notes through jasmine and vanilla in the heart to white musk and sandalwood in the base.

The Pur Series: Two Extremes of Purity

Pur 01 is a warm, spicy fragrance themed around a Mediterranean evening. Top notes of saffron, cardamom, eucalyptus and bergamot lead through a heart of thyme, lavender and rose to a base of labdanum, guaiac wood and patchouli. Pur 02, by contrast, takes a Nordic winter night as its theme. It is clean and tranquil, moving from mandarin, bergamot, elemi and mint in the top notes through a heart of white jasmine to a base of patchouli, cedarwood, vetiver and white musk.

The Super Series: The Power of Molecules

Santal Super and Ambr Super form a series built around modern fragrance molecules such as ISO E-Super and Ambroxan.

Santal Super is warm and confident, opening with pepper and bergamot before moving into a heart of eucalyptus, frankincense, cardamom and jasmine and settling into a base of sandalwood, cedarwood and white musk. It is considered so comfortable to wear that it has been described as a fragrance “you want to embrace all day.”

Ambr Super is inspired by the HBO drama series Euphoria, the bare skin of young Scandinavians and the Swedish music group the Knife. Cardamom top notes lead to a heart of ambrette, plum and tonka bean, then a base of Ambrox, cedarwood, white oak, sandalwood and musk. It is an interpretation of modern amber with an intimate presence close to the scent of skin.

Le Voleur

With a title meaning “the thief” in French, this elegant fragrance brings together a white bouquet, the freshness of modern iris, and sensual frankincense and guaiac wood. Saffron and pink berries in the top notes lead through nutmeg, incense and iris in the heart to sandalwood, amber and dry woods in the base.

Pain Nouveau

The latest creation, released in 2025. True to its French title, which means “new bread,” it is built around a fresh bread accord, with fig leaves, black pepper and bergamot in the top notes, cereal bread, mimosa and orange blossom in the heart, and sandalwood, Ambrox and Bourbon vanilla in the base.

By the Way…

The Stories Written into “0905” and “3007”

As noted above, 0905 and 3007 are named after the birthdays of the founders and a founder’s wife, respectively. The idea of designing two entirely different fragrances to blend over time into a beautiful harmony is more than a playful approach to product names: it can also be read as a distinctly Son Venïn tribute to a dialogue between individuals.

What Is the “Scent of Oslo”?

Asked in an interview about Oslo’s olfactory essence, Dag Laska replied: “Aquatic notes, transparent jasmine, cedarwood and an overall aura of optimism. That is what I think Oslo smells like.” It is a poetic definition of a city, fitting for the founder of a fragrance brand.

The Pronunciation and Meaning of the Brand Name

“Son Venïn” is the brand’s spelling, using an “ï” with a diaeresis. Its authorized Japanese retailer introduces it as “Son Vēn.” There are several interpretations of the meaning. The French word “venin,” transcribed in Japanese as “vunan,” means “venom,” while “son,” transcribed as “son,” means “his” or “her.” Together they mean “his/her venom,” from which one can also read an idea of seduction. It is a name that condenses the brand’s essence into a single phrase: fragrance that holds people captive, like venom.

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