Chanel

Scents hold power. For you, your family, your coworkers or friends, fragrances can document time and create interpersonal connections. Olfactory signals trigger the brain’s limbic system, a gateway to emotion and memory, according to Harvard studies. For fashion houses like Chanel and Gucci, as well as such musicians as Billie Eilish and Dolly Parton (both of whom launched perfumes in 2021), fragrance is also an invisible calling card. If a fan can wear merch that scientifically sparks feeling, the value is obvious. How, then, does one navigate the many fragrant ways of making memories?

“I don’t believe people should be limited to just one scent,” explains perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, making a case for multiple options “to suit different occasions and moods.” Though the French nose has spent decades designing fragrances for brands ranging from Burberry to Jean Paul Gaultier, Kurkdjian has lately become something of a household name, thanks to