Le Labo is a luxury fragrance and sensory-lifestyle house headquartered in New York City. Founded in 2006 by Fabrice Penot and Edouard “Eddie” Roschi, the brand is recognised for its artisanal, predominantly genderless fragrances, laboratory-inspired retail environments, personalised labels, and numbered naming convention 1. Its most widely recognised creations include SANTAL 33 and ANOTHER 13. In October 2014, Le Labo was acquired by The Estée Lauder Companies and now operates within the group’s prestige beauty portfolio 1.

The brand traces its origins to 2006, when the founders opened their first laboratory at 233 Elizabeth Street in New York’s Nolita neighbourhood with the stated ambition of creating a “scented revolution” against conventional perfumery.

Le Labo is French for “The Laboratory.” Rather than positioning itself as a traditional perfume maison, the brand deliberately adopts the language and visual vocabulary of a scientific laboratory. Key conceptual pillars include formulation, ingredients, technicians, freshly blended perfume, numbered creations, personalisation, and craftsmanship. Consequently, a Le Labo boutique typically resembles an apothecary or workshop more closely than a conventional luxury perfume counter.

This concept was distinctive at the time of the brand’s launch in 2006. The founders sought to challenge the standardised, mass-produced nature of mainstream fragrance by presenting perfume as a crafted object and a personal ritual 2. Contemporary accounts describe its early positioning as artisanal, unisex, and intentionally divergent from industry norms 2.

Le Labo was established by two French fragrance-industry professionals:

Fabrice Penot

A French fragrance-industry professional and co-founder of Le Labo.

Edouard “Eddie” Roschi

Penot’s co-founder and business and creative partner.

Both founders had previously worked in the fragrance sector before deciding to build a venture that departed fundamentally from traditional perfume marketing 3. In 2006, they opened the first Le Labo laboratory at 233 Elizabeth Street, Nolita, New York City. This location was significant to the brand’s mythology; rather than emerging from a Parisian salon, Le Labo originated in downtown New York, establishing a dual identity rooted in French perfumery expertise and New York cultural attitude 4.

A central innovation of Le Labo was integrating the preparation of perfume into the product experience. While traditional luxury perfume emphasises the finished bottle, packaging, and heritage, Le Labo highlights the process: ingredients, formulation, laboratory, technician, fresh preparation, and personalisation. This approach renders the bottle less like an industrially manufactured object and more like a bespoke creation.

The brand’s refill system extends this philosophy. Participating laboratories can freshly blend perfume for refills rather than simply exchanging factory-filled bottles 5.

The Le Labo label is among the most recognisable packaging designs in modern niche fragrance. A typical bottle features clear glass, a black cap, a white rectangular label with black typography, the perfume name in large letters, a number, ingredient information, and space for personalisation. Examples include SANTAL 33, ANOTHER 13, ROSE 31, and THÉ NOIR 29. The aesthetic deliberately evokes a laboratory specimen label rather than conventional luxury packaging.

Personalisation further individualises each bottle. Le Labo currently allows customers to customise labels on both the bottle and box with up to 23 characters 6. This strategy shifts the definition of luxury from excessive decoration to a sense of personal ownership.

Instead of descriptive names, Le Labo uses a numerical naming convention such as SANTAL 33, ROSE 31, THÉ NOIR 29, BERGAMOTE 22, NEROLI 36, VETIVER 46, and ANOTHER 13. These numbers generally relate to aspects of the fragrance’s formulation or creative development rather than serving as simple product-generation codes. This reinforces the perception of each perfume as a formula or laboratory creation.

Genderless Positioning

Le Labo generally does not categorise its main perfumes into traditional “men’s” and “women’s” segments. Fragrances are intended for anyone who responds to them, a significant stance given that luxury fragrance marketing remained heavily gender-divided when the brand emerged.

Ingredient Focus

The brand often centres a perfume around a specific raw material or olfactory idea. Examples include SANTAL 33 (sandalwood), ROSE 31 (rose), NEROLI 36 (neroli), VETIVER 46 (vetiver), PATCHOULI 24 (patchouli), and THÉ NOIR 29 (black tea). The resulting compositions are typically more abstract than literal representations of these ingredients.

Minimalist Presentation

Packaging is intentionally restrained, avoiding gold logos, elaborate bottles, celebrity endorsements, or ornate boxes. Instead, the laboratory aesthetic communicates luxury, exemplifying “quiet luxury” before the term entered mainstream usage.

Atmospheric Storytelling

Le Labo frequently constructs an entire scene around a fragrance rather than merely listing notes. For example, SANTAL 33 is presented through imagery of open fire, smoke, the American West, freedom, and wilderness, with official descriptions citing cardamom, iris, violet, Australian sandalwood, cedarwood, and spicy, leathery, and musky facets 7.

SANTAL 33

SANTAL 33 transformed Le Labo from a niche brand into a global cultural phenomenon. It became the signature scent and one of the most recognisable niche fragrances of the 2010s and 2020s. According to the brand, its profile combines sandalwood, cedarwood, cardamom, iris, violet, leather, musk, and spicy facets 8. Crucially, it does not smell like a simple sandalwood perfume but possesses a distinctive dry, woody, smoky, spicy, leathery, and musky character.

Its prominence arose from several concurrent factors: it was distinct from mainstream designer perfumes; it functioned effectively as a unisex fragrance; the minimalist bottle became iconic; it was heavily associated with fashion, design, and creative communities; the New York aesthetic provided cultural credibility; and visibility increased across hotels, restaurants, and celebrity culture.

ANOTHER 13

ANOTHER 13 represents another major success. Unlike standard releases, it originated in 2010 as a commission for AnOther Magazine, involving editor-in-chief Jefferson Hack and facilitated through Colette 9. Its central character derives from ambroxyde, a synthetic musk, combined with jasmine and moss 10. Often described as musky, clean, ambroxan-like, skin-like, airy, slightly sweet, woody, and minimalist, it subsequently joined the permanent Classic Collection 11.

The current Classic Collection extends well beyond the signature scents. The official catalogue includes the following fragrances 12:

As the collection evolves, the exact catalogue is best verified via the official website 13.

A distinctive concept is the City Exclusive Collection, where specific fragrances are associated with individual cities rather than a single global line. Historically, these were available primarily in their respective home cities. Currently, samples are available worldwide in August–September, while full-size Eau de Parfums become available globally in September; otherwise, they remain exclusive to their home cities year-round 14.

Current City Exclusives

The lineup includes the following fragrances 15:

For instance, CITRON 28 (Seoul) features lemon, ginger, jasmine, cedar, and musk, while OSMANTHUS 19 (Kyoto) interprets the city through osmanthus, incense, lavender, and woody/resinous elements 16. This concept reinforces connections to place, discovery through travel, and scarcity, turning geography into a fragrance collection.

Although fundamentally a fragrance house, Le Labo has evolved into a broader sensory lifestyle brand. Its current offerings include 17:

• Fine Fragrance: Eau de Parfum, discovery samples, discovery sets, and travel tubes.
• Home: Classic candles, City Exclusive candles, home fragrances, diffusers, and related objects.
• Body: Body lotion, body oil, hand cream, hand soap, shower gel, body bar, and liquid balm.
• Hair: Shampoo and conditioner.
• Other: Grooming products, sets, and personalised items.

Candles

Candles adhere to the same philosophy as perfumes: minimal packaging, distinctive scent, laboratory aesthetic, and craftsmanship. Notable products include SANTAL 26. The numbering system extends to home fragrance, maintaining coherence across the product universe 18.

Le Labo operates a dedicated Refill Program based on the principle of reusing the same bottle for the same scent. Customers may return eligible empty 50 ml or 100 ml bottles to be refilled with the same fragrance and receive a new personalised label. Refills are generally offered at approximately 20% below retail price 5. Participating physical laboratories also provide this service in person.

Freshly compounded Eau de Parfum undergoes maceration, typically for at least 14 days, to develop its characteristic olfactory profile 19. This system aligns with the brand’s philosophy by making the bottle an object worth keeping.

The brand emphasises the people and places behind its materials. Official communications highlight craftspeople and sources associated with specific ingredients and objects: sandalwood from Kimberley, Australia; rose from Grasse, France; bergamot from Reggio Calabria, Italy; concrete candles from Charleston, USA; diffusers from Brooklyn, USA; neon signs from New York; and denim totes from Okayama, Japan 20. This narrative frames perfume within a context of global craft rather than anonymous industrial production.

Store Environment

Le Labo stores are designed to differ from conventional department-store counters. The aesthetic emphasises wooden furniture, laboratory bottles, handwritten or printed labels, industrial details, exposed materials, subdued colours, shelves of ingredients, visible preparation, and staff presented as “lab technicians.” The objective is to make purchasing perfume feel like entering the world where it is made, selling the ritual surrounding the fragrance rather than just the product.

Lab Technicians

Staff are deliberately termed “Lab Technicians” rather than sales associates 21. This terminology shifts the transaction model from sales associate → customer → product to lab technician → formulation → customer → personalised creation, reinforcing the artisanal and experiential nature of the purchase.

French and American Hybrid Identity

Le Labo combines French perfumery heritage and language with American/New York cultural identity. Had it been solely a traditional French house, it would have competed directly with brands like Chanel or Dior. Instead, it filtered French sophistication through New York’s downtown creative culture, appealing to consumers interested in fashion, architecture, design, art, and hospitality.

In October 2014, The Estée Lauder Companies acquired Le Labo. Corporate materials classify the brand within prestige fragrance and sensory lifestyle. This acquisition is often cited as a niche-to-global-luxury success story, as the brand retained its distinctive identity while accessing the resources of a global beauty group.

Historically, Le Labo emerged from the niche/artisanal fragrance movement. Today, however, it is better described as a globally recognised luxury fragrance house with niche-perfumery DNA rather than a small independent niche company. The official store locator lists markets across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere, including Vietnam 22.

Le Labo’s success stems from a coherent brand universe where almost every element reinforces the same message:

Marketing relies less on traditional advertising and more on product recognition (particularly of SANTAL 33 and ANOTHER 13), word of mouth, the retail experience, scarcity via City Exclusives, personalisation, cultural associations with creative industries, and minimalism.

Olfactory Identity

There is no single universal “Le Labo smell.” The house encompasses a broad range, from the woody/spicy/smoky profile of SANTAL 33 to the musky/skin-like quality of ANOTHER 13, the spicy/woody rose of ROSE 31, the dark tea/woody character of THÉ NOIR 29, the fresh/earthy nature of BAIE 19, the white floral LYS 41, the citrus/floral NEROLI 36, and the soft, creamy, green/woody THÉ MATCHA 26. What unites these is a consistent method of constructing and presenting scent.

Both SANTAL 33 and ANOTHER 13 are recognisable without smelling conventionally “perfumey,” aligning with contemporary preferences for subtle, personal, and genderless fragrance.

Strengths

• Visual Identity: Immediately recognisable labeling.
• Hero Products: SANTAL 33 and ANOTHER 13 drive significant brand recognition.
• Retail Experience: The laboratory concept is distinct.
• Personalisation: Fosters emotional attachment and gifting potential.
• Scarcity: City Exclusives encourage collecting and travel.
• Genderless Positioning: Broadens the customer base.
• Consistent Storytelling: Laboratory, craft, and city concepts reinforce one another.
• Cultural Relevance: Successfully transitioned from niche to mainstream luxury while retaining its aesthetic.

Criticisms

• High Prices: Products are expensive relative to mainstream brands.
• Ubiquity of SANTAL 33: Success has reduced exclusivity.
• Brand Saturation: Wider distribution diminishes the original “underground” feeling.
• Imitation: The minimalist laboratory aesthetic has been widely copied.
• Performance Variability: Individual experiences vary by skin chemistry and climate.

• 2006: Fabrice Penot and Edouard Roschi establish Le Labo in New York and open the first laboratory at 233 Elizabeth Street.
• 2010: ANOTHER 13 is created through a collaboration involving AnOther Magazine and Colette 23.
• 2010s: SANTAL 33 becomes the defining global fragrance; international following develops.
• 2014: The Estée Lauder Companies acquires Le Labo.
• 2010s–2020s: International expansion, development of City Exclusive concept, and growth into body, hair, and home fragrance.
• Today: Operates as a global luxury fragrance and sensory-lifestyle house, maintaining its laboratory, personalisation, and craftsmanship identity. The catalogue spans classic fragrances, City Exclusives, home products, body/hair products, discovery products, and refills 24.

1. ABOUT US | Le Labo Fragrances
2. Le Labo
3. Spotlight on Le Labo
4. Who Founded Le Labo? | Osmetheca
5. Refill Program | FAQ | Le Labo Fragrances
6. Personalization | Le Labo Fragrances
7. OUR CREATIONS | Le Labo Fragrances
8. SANTAL 33 | Sample | Le Labo Fragrances
9. OUR CREATIONS | Le Labo Fragrances
10. ANOTHER 13
11. EAU DE PARFUM | Le Labo Fragrances
12. DISCOVERY | Classic Collection | Le Labo Fragrances
13. City Exclusive Collection | FAQ | Le Labo Fragrances
14. The City Exclusive Event | Le Labo Fragrances
15. CITRON 28 | Seoul City Exclusive | Le Labo Fragrances
16. OSMANTHUS 19 | Kyoto City Exclusive | Le Labo Fragrances
17. Store Locator | Le Labo Fragrances
18. The History of Le Labo | Perfume Finder
19. el-20240630
20. el-20230630
21. el-20220630
22. The Lab • Galilu Neoperfumeria
23. How Le Labo Scaled Up Without Losing Its Soul | Global Cosmetic Industry
24. Cult perfume brand Le Labo and the chemistry – personal and actual – behind its success | South China Morning Post