VAPORMUNDUM: An Aachen Workshop Where One Man Weaves Fragrance and Story

Contents

Basic Information
The Founder and the Brand’s Beginnings
What Defines the Brand

Basic Information

Vapormundum is an independent German perfume brand founded by Joschka Klee. Launched in 2023, it is based near Aachen. Its official website is vapormundum.com.

The Founder and the Brand’s Beginnings

Joschka Klee was interested in the smells of food and flowers as a child and later collected perfumes and followed blogs and reviews. Meeting an amateur perfumer who made fragrances at home prompted him to move from choosing scents to composing them himself.

He began in a basement, developing his skills before moving to his own atelier. He recalls learning through the Basenotes forum, practical work with materials and conversations with other makers at fairs. He regards smelling as something trained through curiosity.

When establishing the brand, large-scale success was not his only aim. Making fragrances for others and being able to continue creating mattered to him. This ambition connects his practical learning with the work of running a small independent house.

What Defines the Brand

Stories and the Accord Concept

Music, painting and poetry can all inspire a fragrance. Vapormundum gives each memory, place or emotion its own olfactory expression, rather than imposing a common scent profile on every creation. Klee does not limit his work to the materials of a single supplier; he selects from both natural and synthetic materials according to the needs of each perfume.

Klee listens to other perfumers while taking care not to lose sight of his original idea during development. He explains that, when advice tempts him to try many different directions, he returns to the idea he began with. Preferences shape judgments of a fragrance, and he values keeping hold of what he wanted to express.

This way of working led to the Accord Concept, which allows the wearer to change a fragrance. An accord is a combination of materials that forms a coherent scent. Klee has preferred to compose these building blocks himself, tailoring them to each perfume. He then considered making the structures within a formula available to the wearer. Layering a dedicated accord over the main fragrance can bring out its sweetness, smoke or floral character and give it a different expression.

Signature Layering Collection

The Signature Layering Collection comprises Electri, Aura, Deserta and Serpent, each presented as a main fragrance with two accords. Each set contains 50 ml of extrait de parfum and two different 8 ml accords specific to that perfume, for a total of 66 ml. The set price was €195 for each fragrance when checked in November 2026. The main fragrance can be worn alone, with an accord layered over it on the skin when a different effect is desired.

The 50 ml main fragrances and 8 ml accords are also available separately. Standalone & Accords is the sales category for choosing the main perfumes or their accompanying scents within these four creations. Curated Duo combines two sets.

Electri: Champagne and Smoke at a Rave

Released in 2023, Electri was one of the house’s first fragrances. Its subject is the crowd gathered in the darkness of a techno rave and the excitement of the night. The sparkling brightness of champagne meets the deep warmth of incense, or frankincense. Labdanum, patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla support its smoky, resinous character.

The two additional accords bring different aspects of the night into focus. Sparkling Champagne brightens the effervescent opening, while Burnt Incense deepens the warmth of smoke and resins. The same main fragrance can move towards the sparkle in a glass or the smoke-filled air of the night.

Aura: The Intimacy of the Night

Also introduced in 2023, Aura explores the softer side of the techno scene. Cherry is surrounded by incense and oud, evoking intimate moments in a nocturnal setting. Rose, labdanum, patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla add layers in which sweet fruit meets dark woods.

Balsamic Cherry Accord intensifies the fruit’s juiciness and smooth sweetness, giving the perfume a warmer expression. Musky Oud Accord brings out the depth of resinous wood.

Deserta: A Desert Night Inspired by a Photograph

Deserta, released in 2024, began with Tulio Sampayo’s photograph Desierto de la Tatacoa, Huila. Drawing on Colombia’s Tatacoa Desert, it translates the earth warmed by the day and the quiet warmth of the night into scent. Solar notes, soil, patchouli, cedarwood, amber and vanilla evoke dry ground and warm air.

The additional accords introduce another scene through Colombian plants. Juicy Curuba adds the freshness of curuba, also known as banana passionfruit. Milky Coconut wraps the dry desert impression in creamy softness. These fruit and coconut impressions suggest an afternoon in the shade of sunlit palms. Beginning with a desert at night, the accords allow a brighter, softer scene to emerge.

Serpent: The Flower and the Snake

Serpent was created with Milan Scents. Its inspiration is the line from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, “Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” Floral beauty is paired with the danger beneath it. Alongside rose, the imagery of thorns, geranium leaves, petrichor suggesting earth after rain, frankincense, snake skin and elemi resin creates a dark rose garden.

Innocent Flower Accord brings out floral softness, making the fragrance brighter and more delicate. Fatal Poison Accord adds smoke and depth, bringing its hidden darkness forward. The accords correspond to the flower and the serpent in the literary inspiration. The brand gives 2024 as the release year, while Parfumo lists 2025, so the sources do not agree.

Limited Collaborations

Incaro is a limited edition released in 2025. Created in collaboration with the content creator JoNoir, it comes with two accords themed around sunrise and sunset. Production was limited to 40 sets.

Burning Cheesecake, released in 2025, is a limited-edition gourmand fragrance co-created with Parfumerie Lubner.

Klee also works as a perfumer for brands other than his own. One example is Roots of Kente for the brand twentysecondofmay, inspired by Ghana’s cultural heritage. The perfume rating website Parfumo has at one point presented the fragrances he composed with an average score of 8.1 out of 10. Ratings fluctuate as reviews are posted, but they suggest that fragrances from this small workshop are reaching enthusiasts.

References