“Engineering is a problem-solving mindset.”
Rami Atallah, co-founder, 2023
When choosing clothes, we may be drawn not only to their shape or materials but also to the perspective of the person who made them. Based in Montréal, Canada, SSENSE is a multibrand retailer that has extended that curiosity to perfume and the objects of everyday life.
Its fragrance department is not an independent, in-house perfume brand. It is a place that introduces fashion designers and perfume makers on the same platform. The founder’s engineering mindset, the work of buyers discovering young talent, and the Montréal store that connects online choices with physical experience all help explain what it means for SSENSE to sell scent.
At a Glance
- Name: SSENSE
- Founded: 2003
- Co-founders: Rami Atallah, Firas Atallah, and Bassel Atallah
- Base: Montréal, Canada
- Business: Fashion-led multibrand retail, online sales, and cultural content production. Fragrance is one of the categories within Everything Else
- Physical store: SSENSE MONTRÉAL, 418 rue Saint-Sulpice, Montréal, Québec
- Official website: SSENSE
Founded by Three Brothers, Expanding from Fashion to Fragrance
A Store That Began with Research in Computer Engineering
The Atallah brothers were born in Damascus, Syria, and moved to Montréal with their family as teenagers. Rami first became involved in the emerging field of e-commerce. As he experimented with fashion resale, he recognized its potential and built SSENSE’s early platform as part of his computer engineering thesis.
Firas had completed his studies in finance and economics, while Bassel had begun studying mechanical engineering. Bringing their different areas of knowledge together, the brothers founded the business in 2003. They opened a Montréal store in 2004 and launched ssense.com in 2006. The founding of the company should be distinguished from the launch of its online store.
At first, the brothers handled the work themselves. For Rami, a website was not something that could be completed simply by adopting a ready-made system. He built it while learning everything from setting up servers and programming to designing its pages. The retail questions of how to present products and turn interest into orders became the work of designing technology.
“We build a minimum viable product…”
Rami Atallah, 2023 (excerpt)
Rather than defining the finished form from the outset, the idea was to develop it by observing how people responded. This way of thinking extended beyond the website to the physical store that followed.
In 2018, Bringing Online Choices into Physical Space
On May 3, 2018, a new flagship, SSENSE MONTRÉAL, opened in Old Montréal. It was designed by the Milan office of David Chipperfield Architects. The brick and stone exterior of a nineteenth-century building was retained, with a new five-level structure inserted inside.
A display system suspended by cables was installed in the black-concrete space. Its elements could be attached or removed as needed, allowing retail and cultural events to take place in the same setting. Ahead of the opening, an Arca performance was held in collaboration with Prada on April 26. The store began as more than a place to arrange merchandise: it was somewhere people could gather and encounter creators’ forms of expression.
At the opening, SSENSE also presented a system in which customers could choose items online, have them brought from the warehouse to the store, and try them on the following day. It was an attempt to connect the broad selection available on the web with time to handle actual objects and decide.
“We want to support people, who have different perspectives…”
Rami Atallah, 2018 (excerpt)
In 2020, Everything Else Expands into Everyday Objects and Fragrance
On December 2, 2020, SSENSE launched Everything Else. The department broadened the selection beyond clothing to homeware, technology, self-care, and other fields. Byredo was included from the outset, and fragrance became part of the new department alongside skincare and haircare.
“we’re intentionally rejecting conventional department and product categorizations”
Krishna Nikhil, then Chief Merchandising Officer, 2020 (excerpt)
Nikhil described a policy of selecting both established and emerging brands according to their relevance to customers. Clothing, audio equipment, and perfume were not assumed to be separate interests; they were considered within the same person’s life. That breadth is reflected in the department’s name, Everything Else.
A Timeline from the Founding to the Present
| Period | Event |
|---|---|
| 2003 | The three Atallah brothers found SSENSE. |
| 2004 | A store opens in Montréal. |
| 2006 | ssense.com launches. |
| May 3, 2018 | The new flagship, SSENSE MONTRÉAL, opens to the public. |
| December 2, 2020 | Everything Else launches, expanding the offering into fragrance, self-care, and everyday objects. |
| 2025 | The company enters restructuring proceedings under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). |
| February 2026 | A founder-led acquisition is completed, and the business continues. |
| Verified October 15, 2026 | Operating information for the Montréal store and fragrance sales pages on the Canadian and US websites are confirmed. The Japan-facing fragrance-category URL redirects to the self-care department. |
A Selection Combining Data and Intuition
Buyers Turn Editorial Discoveries into Business
One way to understand SSENSE’s selection is through the work of Brigitte Chartrand, who led womenswear buying in 2019. Her discovery of Mowalola began with an Instagram account sent to her by an editor. Chartrand asked a buyer to make contact, leading to a meeting in Paris.
After a maker was discovered, there was also work to support costing, retail pricing, logistics, and more. Editorial publishing and product buying connected to bring a new brand to readers and customers. Although this example concerns clothing, it shows that SSENSE is not merely an assemblage of products but also a medium for introducing their creators.
“our particular approach is really a mix of left and right brain.”
Brigitte Chartrand, 2019 (excerpt)
Chartrand valued intuition as well as sales data. Numbers helped her read the response, while human judgment helped her recognize something new. SSENSE’s selection emerges where the founders’ interest in technology meets the buyers’ work with creators.
Established Niche Perfume and Brands with Different Ideas
The fragrance department also carries multiple brands. As of October 15, 2026, the Canadian and US fragrance categories include Byredo, Comme des Garçons Parfums, Ex Nihilo, Jo Malone London, and Vyrao.
This is more than a list of brand names. Byredo’s Mumbai Noise, Comme des Garçons’ CDG, and Ex Nihilo’s Attraction Eau De Parfum Travel Set have sales pages with product descriptions and add-to-cart buttons. It is an actual multibrand offering that includes well-known niche perfumes.
CDG, in particular, lists industrial glue alongside floral scents in its product description. SSENSE’s fragrance selection includes ideas that go beyond reproducing familiar pleasant smells. Someone intrigued by the form of a garment can find options that turn that curiosity toward perfume as another means of expression.
Introducing Perfume Makers Alongside Music and Design
SSENSE also explores perfume in its editorial content. An article visiting David and Kavi Moltz of D.S. & Durga discusses not only scent but also music, packaging, and their workplace. David creates the fragrances, Kavi handles their visual expression, and the works are accompanied by playlists. Their conversation conveys how they collaborate.
The article also touches on a Halloween set combining fragrance layering with a mystery to solve. Rather than explaining perfume simply as a mixture of floral and woody smells, it presents it as a creative practice that can include moving images and play. The opportunity to get closer to makers’ cultural interests is part of the publication’s appeal for readers who discover perfume through fashion.
The Montréal Store and Online Sales Today
A Flagship That Can Be Visited Without an Appointment
SSENSE MONTRÉAL is at 418 rue Saint-Sulpice in Old Montréal. The current official FAQ states that it carries fragrances alongside clothing, shoes, accessories, and lifestyle products, and that visitors can browse the in-store selection without an appointment.
An April 2025 account of the store also described perfume bottles arranged on black-concrete and stainless-steel shelving on the fifth floor. Rather than a separate fragrance-only shop, it is a department where perfume is encountered in the same space as clothing and objects for everyday life.
Appointments with a personal stylist offer a system for trying on items selected from a wishlist. Not every product sold online, however, is always on display in the store. It is worth checking with the store before visiting to find out whether a particular perfume is displayed or a tester is available. A clothing try-on appointment should not simply be understood as a specialist perfume-sampling service.
As of October 15, 2026, official opening hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, with the store closed on Monday.
Online Fragrance Availability Varies by Destination
SSENSE entered restructuring proceedings under the CCAA in 2025, and a founder-led acquisition was completed in February 2026. It continues to provide store operating information and online sales. The products shown, however, are not identical across countries and regions.
| Channel | Official information as of October 15, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Montréal physical store | Carries fragrance. Visitors can browse the current in-store selection without an appointment. |
| Canadian and US online stores | List fragrances from multiple brands, with individual product sales pages. |
| Japan-facing online store | The fragrance-category URL redirects to the self-care department. |
On the Japan-facing site, the fragrance-category URL redirects to self-care. Being able to read the site in Japanese is different from being able to order a fragrance listed for an overseas market for delivery to Japan. The departments and product pages need to be considered separately for each destination.
What emerges from SSENSE’s fragrance offering is a way of selecting products and creating editorial content that moves between clothing, design, and music. For someone who chooses clothes through the maker’s perspective, it opens a door to another form of expression: scent. Those connections of interest are a reason to get to know this retailer through perfume.
Other perfume shops are also introduced in the worldwide perfume-shop directory in “Discover the World of Perfume”.
References
- How SSENSE CEO Rami Atallah Built Today’s Most Influential Culture and Technology Platform — Truc Nguyen / GLORY, March 3, 2023
- About Us: business and locations — SSENSE
- Our Culture: the three brothers and the origins of the early platform — SSENSE
- SSENSE flagship store: architecture and display system — David Chipperfield Architects
- Arca at SSENSE Montréal: opening date and performance — David Chipperfield Architects, April 30, 2018
- Ssense Launches Innovative Shopping Format — Anders Christian Madsen / British Vogue, April 30, 2018
- Ssense Is Moving Into the Beauty Space With Byredo, Tata Harper, & Joanna Vargas — Tanisha Pina / NYLON, originally published December 2, 2020
- SSENSE exits CCAA through founder-led buy-out of parent Groupe Atallah — Kiezzsa Cruz / Lexpert
- Brigitte Chartrand: (R)e-tailing young talent — Mahoro Seward / 1 Granary, November 11, 2019
- Fragrances: Canadian fragrance category — SSENSE
- Fragrances: US fragrance category — SSENSE
- Mumbai Noise Eau de Parfum: product information and image — SSENSE
- CDG Eau de Parfum: product information — SSENSE
- Attraction Eau De Parfum Travel Set: product information — SSENSE
- Inside D.S. & Durga’s Music-Filled Scent Lab — Katie Stone / SSENSE
- SSENSE MONTRÉAL FAQ: in-store selection, visits, and appointments — SSENSE
- Just Browsing: 5 Spectacular Skirts at Ssense, Plus Everything Else I Loved — Talia Abbas / Vogue, April 30, 2025
- SSENSE MONTRÉAL: address and opening hours — SSENSE
- Fragrances: Japan-facing fragrance-category URL (redirects to the self-care department) — SSENSE
