The indie fragrance brand for lovers of music and mythology

Enter the sensuous, mystical world of D.S. & Durga.

October 23, 2018

Brooklyn might seem an unlikely location for a perfume house, but embracing the unexpected is what D.S. & Durga are all about. Founded by David Seth Moltz and Kavi Moltz, the uber cool fragrance brand is a labour of love for the duo who started out producing small batches for their friends back in 2007. Their offbeat, impressionistic approach to scent has since won them a cult following around the world.

Rooted in their shared passions for literature, travel and music (David is a musician, while Kavi previously trained as an architect), D.S. & Durga’s fragrances are a visceral experience with an uncanny ability to evoke far-flung places and memories. From the woods of Western Massachusetts to the Celtic hills of Armagh, each carefully crafted scent draws on mythology and history to tell a unique story.

Music is a hugely rich source of inspiration for the two, leading to their latest collaboration– a collection of four fragrances with Duran Duran. Like a limited edition vinyl run, only 500 units of each which be available exclusively at Liberty in London. We caught up with David and Kavi to talk about the collaboration and the narrative power of fragrance.

Mythology and mysticism are a big influence for you – which comes first the scent or the story?

Kavi: It can work both ways. Our recent release Vio Volta for example, had no story to begin with. David was playing with different chemicals and brought it home to me to test out.

David: It was very polarising and strange in terms of the reactions we got from people. In terms of the story, I’m a huge reader – I’m always consuming stories. For example, with The Pixies who inspired our scent Debaser, I always wanted to make something inspired by the group, so it started with the story.

How did your new collection with Duran Duran come about?

David: They came to us, which was amazing – we grew up listening to them!

Kavi: They wanted to create something to celebrate 40 years in the industry, so we chose one song per decade. Simon and David talked through which songs would be good to represent. We didn’t necessarily go with the hits, it was more what would work in terms of the story for the scent.

David: Not every song would make sense as a fragrance. We picked the ones which we felt connected most to scent. I tried to make each something that would hearken back to the era that they are from.

Kavi, your background is in architecture – how did you draw on this to create D.S. & Durga?

Kavi: It gave me the tools and language to apply to the design of the collection. With niche perfume, the idea is that you focus on the juice inside, the design is simple and takes a backseat. Simple and beautiful. There’s a certain colour palette we work with to make it recognisable across everything that we do.

David: We came from nothing, we were hand-making them ourselves in these basic bottles. We went through lots of different iterations and we’ve only looked like this for two years. We have built this entirely ourselves, with no investors.

What do you think is different about how people consume fragrance these days?

Kavi: Celebrity fragrance is over. People are interested in discovering smaller, independent brands.

David: I liken it to where chefs were ten years ago. People now have a great knowledge of ingredients. The concept of a fragrance wardrobe is now important – it’s no longer about wearing a signature fragrance.

Music is a really important influence on the brand – how do you translate notes from music to scents?

David: More than anything, it’s landscapes that I’m working with. When I think of my favourite poetry or literature, or music, I love the idea of this imaginary landscape and how it all connects together in a universal consciousness. Sometimes it’s about creating characters – for example, I created a whole set of characters for an album project which I would then translate to a scent.

Realistic scent recreation around specific places and people is something I really like to do.

Where in the world do you both get most inspired when you travel?

Kavi: For David, he is partial to Ireland and Scotland. For both of us India is an endless source of inspiration. Fragrance is such an important part of Indian culture and so many incredible ingredients come from there. It also connects to my own heritage and provides another layer of inspiration.

David: Wherever we travel I’m always smelling all the plants, always making notes so I can try to recreate it. From Big Sur after the rain to Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts, to Marfa in the Texas desert – most of our fragrances have a geographical location. The rain especially is a big influence.

White Peacock for example is about an imaginary world where the white peacock floats high above a sea of cream white lilies, alabaster violets and fog in the distance. This scent was also used to inspire a piece of music. Debaser takes place for me in my hometown on a sexy August night when I first heard The Pixies.

Is fragrance emotion based for you both or is it science?

Kavi: It’s not so much emotion, it’s about a story and a place and combining that with the science of perfumery.

David: It’s armchair travel!

Which are your most popular scents around the world?

Kavi: Debaser is the bestseller here and in America and in Australia.

David: Niche fragrance has disrupted everything. The idea that Japan only likes light fragrance or the middle east only likes heavy fragrance – that’s all changing.

Would you venture into creating any other kinds of products?

Kavi: We’re starting body care – we’re creating shower gels and body creams.

David: For ourselves, we’re doing some fun things, making car air fresheners to sell to people we know. We’ve also always wanted to make t-shirts. We’re collaborating with our friends at Monogram who make the most amazing pieces.