Maksim Perfumes
more is different
A new school of perfumery is changing the game right under our noses. Parfum d’Empire, Mallo, Anatole Lebreton, Sentire, Mendittorosa, Hiram Green, Stora Skuggan, Roberto Greco, Maksim1 and others are building majestic, lofty perfumes that feel both archaic and futuristic, a sort of Atlantean mythic modern2 that puts most everything else in the shade. As Ian Fleming wrote, “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.” If I were art directing a major perfume brand trying to save pennies on formula cost, or running a niche outfit parroting tired, trendy tropes, I would run for cover.
Like any mature trade, perfumery is based on notions that were true at the time of its foundation but may no longer apply. The novelty of twentieth-century perfume lay in the balance between chemistry and natural materials, one providing structure, the other volume. For decades, synthetics grew more diverse and cheaper, while the list of natural materials became shorter and each item more expensive. Oil firms always pick cheap and reliable over expensive and variable, so in time the frog of perfumery ended up slowly boiled in hedione. What has happened recently is absurd price inflation; nothing fundamentally has changed, yet perfumes that used to sell for $100 now go for $250, while formula cost has gone down. This could change everything, but not as expected.
These crazy prices have been a godsend to the artisans. If the current era is ever summed up in one word by historians, it will likely be disintermediation. The fact that the Web allows me to find something and have it delivered directly from the maker is a miracle. Web-only sales obviate the preposterous greed of distributors. The no-frills promise of niche also allows for savings on packaging. Then, if you’re not ripping people off, $250 for 100 ml of perfume buys you good stuff. Artisans work in small volumes and therefore access unusual naturals that are normally culled from the shelves of the big guys. Really expensive, mostly natural formulas are now within reason.
The expectation in mainstream (and most of “niche” perfumery) was that the bullshit bonanza would never end, that they could carry on forever selling $1 worth of oil at a 250-fold markup. No need to worry, right? Outsider artisans who never trained at in-house perfumery schools couldn’t master the art sufficiently to turn expensive materials into interesting perfumes. Right?
Wrong. Dealers-compounders in small quantities of raw materials sprung up, and large numbers of dilettanti tried their hands at perfumery. Then the usual things intervened: talent, flair, artistry. Schooling—as opposed to apprenticeship—is vastly overrated, and often turns spirited colts into indolent nags. The first generation of artisans have learned their trade and are coaching the next one. One such is Maksim Bortnikov, son of Dimitry Bortnikov of Bortnikoff perfumes. Both father and son are based in Thailand. Of late, Maksim has got together with Rajesh Balkrishnan for new compositions. I just received three from Rajesh. They are quite something.
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