Being a fragrance lover, I was thrilled to be able to attend the Fragrance Foundation’s amazing first ever pop-up shop at 962 Madison Avenue between 73rd and 74th Streets (in the former Sonnabend Gallery). It was the anchor event for the highly anticipated Fragrance Week each year which has Madison Avenue fragrance boutiques hosting events for what I call “super spritzers” (people who don’t leave their house without first putting on a scent). This pop up shop/gallery featured the latest and the greatest from many of your favorite fragrance designers including Bo Fragrance, Anna Sui, Chris Collins and Brown Girl Jane (whose products you can see above along with a fun frame prop being used by Fragrance Foundation Linda Levy and pals)! Visitors got to get some generous samples from each of a dozen displays–a couple brands even gave out full size rollerball EDPs–and spritzed to their hearts’ content!
Guests did a lot of selfies at the FF Pop-Up and some of the designers and “noses” behind the brands showed up! As an example, luxury fragrance brand House of Bō, known for its Mexican-inspired, sustainably-sourced fragrances, was founded by Bernardo Möller who was on hand to meet and greet guests and even went to press the flesh with those waiting on line to get in. These bold fragrances are truly unique as some of them contain fruity and green scents not generally used in EDP formulations. You will be impressed how long lasting they are as well. I am so happy that I got to take home a large vial of Bo’s newest scent, Ave Maria, which has a Gardenia top note and a middle note or Neroli!
Fragrance Foundation prez Linda Levy was pretty much at the event all day long on both days of the pop-up, speaking to guests and showing true dedication to the art of fragrance as well as the way it can contribute to social causes as well. Levy takes a strong stand on DEI and also makes the effort to have the FF do cross promotions with great causes. She is the driving force behind the #FragranceForwardTFF initiative, which promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in the fragrance industry. Through mentorship programs, scholarships, and partnerships, she has worked to create more opportunities for underrepresented talent in fragrance development, marketing, and retail. Ms. Levy has also emphasized the importance of recognizing perfumers as creative artists, ensuring they receive more public acknowledgment for their work. In 2023, she was honored with the inaugural Catalyst Award from the New York Urban League for her efforts in promoting diversity and career development in the industry.
If you are wondering what type of music was in the background during the pop-up, well, the Fragrance Foundation kept things mellow and relaxing by having a professional harpist and flutist. They were in the lounge area at the back of the event space and many people sat on the white couches there to check out the musician’s chops and converse with friends in the fragrance business–or just friends who turned up for the opportunity to check out the two or three scents on each display! The displays seem to mix a brand’s classic scent with two of their newer scents. The most famous fragrance line on hand was Good Girl by Caroline Herrera (the country’s top selling department store fragrance at the moment). I was thrilled to try Very Good Girl Elixir, the newest item in this remarkable line!
I was introduced to the great perfumer Chris Collins at a FF event at Brasserie 8 1/2 press event a couple of years ago, and have noticed how popular his unisex fragrances have become. If you are not familiar with them, they are bold and are the perfect blend of woods, green leaves and flowers. You can spritz to your heart’s content in the Bergdorf Goodman or Neiman Marcus fragrance departments and I suggest following Chris on Intragram under the name @worldofchriscollins. Be sure to keep up with the amazing FF events on IG as well–their handle is simply @fragrancefoundation. You can keep an eye out for more of their ultra fun events here: https://fragrance.org/events/.
