In 2006, the fragrance world was still moseying along as if modernism had barely happened.
There had been a few modernist stand-outs, most of them early on, but no industry-wide revolution. Something radical would be necessary to break the spell of this hundred-year sleep, a marginal notion that would unhinge the mainstream.
Minimalists wish was our demand when self-confessed novice perfumer Geza Schoen struck upon the idea to bottle a singular aroma chemical and sell it as a binary pair of fragrances with a nod to the utterly modernist outlanders. Geza brought an artist’s sensibility, logicality (German in nature) and much extravagant off-the-wall spirit to the proceedings. For if anyone could conjure the achingly cool energy of minimalism, it was Geza. He would use the beautifully odd Iso E Super as the star of his juice, as he felt it expressed everything a perfumer could want: radiance, tenacity, and power. It would be called Escentric Molecules 01, and it would become the scent sensation of the 21st century, causing a frenzy that no one ever saw coming...
As a brand, we are democratic, and we are all about connection. 15 years on, we are still hearing a bevvy of stories about EM01’s suivez-moi powers, so we felt they deserved to be told and shared. We asked, and you sent. Posting over 450 submissions to us in just two weeks, we have rigorously selected the most eccentric, raunchiest, and poetic stories, reproduced here as they appear on the bottles or in text form. Enjoy!
