Interview with Carlos Kusubayashi of A Lab On Fire

by: Serguey Borisov

Former (above) and new (below) design of A Lab On Fire

The history of S-Perfume and A Lab On Fire brands, born in New York and led by Japanese art directors Nobi Shioya and Carlos Kusubayashi, intrigued me for several years. First there was the scandalous project S-Perfume helmed by Nobi, then the bottles and packaging were left with a few changes, but the brand had a new name (A Lab On Fire) and its face was Carlos. And then A Lab On Fire's fragrances changed their names and S-Perfume reappeared on the scene last year, again in new bottles. So two brands have grown from one root. What happened? The best decision would be a confrontation/double interview with Carlos and Nobi.


My investigation led me to the Intertrade company, which distributes S-Perfume and works in the PR field for A Lab On Fire. Giorgia Cantarini, Intertrade's PR Director, kindly helped us to conduct two interviews: it happens that they both live in different cities. Carlos lives in Marfa, Texas, USA, and Nobi lives in Japan. Today we offer you the first interview with Carlos Kusubayashi. As Carlos does not reveal his face to public, we`ll illustrate the interview with the perfumes of A Lab On Fire instead of portraits.

New design of S-Perfume

Serguey Borisov:
What is the philosophy behind A Lab On Fire?

Carlos Kusubayashi:
A Lab On Fire is not searching for some outlandish scent to surprise you, but I hope there are certain degrees of pleasant unexpectedness in each fragrance that we offer. Perfume is not a necessity or a utility item, but it is something desirable and glamorous. I believe glamour is about finding the unique and luxurious in surprising places.

Serguey Borisov:
Why did you decide to start your own brand of perfumes?

Carlos Kusubayashi:
I launched L’Anonyme ou OP-1475-A purely by curiosity and didn’t plan what was coming after. This first fragrance launched at Colette in April 2011, the opening order immediately sold out, and I started to receive messages from stores and distributors around the world. Soon after I was looking for a managing partner to continue the venture.

Serguey Borisov:
What did you do before the perfume line? What are your past experiences?

Carlos Kusubayashi:
I first worked the assembly line of Nissan Motor Co. in Japan after high school. Then I moved to Tokyo and learned how to restore old Japanese art through apprenticeship, which eventually landed me in Paris to work on an amazing collection of Japanese art for two years. When the project was over I decided to stop by in Los Angeles and New York before returning to Japan. I should have first gone to New York, but for some reason I went to L.A. first, and what was supposed to be a few weeks turned into a year working at a prop studio for Hollywood. So, by the time I finally arrived at New York I have forgotten about going back to Japan. I was working as a fine art conservator when I met Nobi Shioya in Brooklyn. I still do art restoration for museums and auction houses from time to time for very specific projects.

Serguey Borisov:
How was working with Nobi Shioya, the sculptor?

Carlos Kusubayashi:It was an interesting moment in my life being able to learn about contemporary art or meeting these strange people called "artists," but it never became more than a curiosity for me. As a child I grew up watching my father make thousands of bolts and screws in his small factory everyday. In my mind, if I had to make something for a living, it has to be things that have existed for a long time for good reasons or some new ideas that is going to improve our daily life—certainly not a crazy thing called contemporary art.

Serguey Borisov:
Was he the one that introduced you to perfume?

Carlos Kusubayashi:
Yes of course. If it wasn’t for Nobi Shioya, I would have still only liked the smell of oil and steel, which are the smells of my childhood.

Serguey Borisov:
Why did you separate your paths with Nobi?

Carlos Kusubayashi:
We didn’t separate our paths. Nobi one day suddenly quit his studio and went to Japan for a while. That was it. We are still in contact, but he spends more time in Japan than in the States. I only see him once or twice a year.

Serguey Borisov:
What are your different visions of brand development or perfume as piece of art?

Carlos Kusubayashi:Let me be clear, perfume is not art in a way painting or sculpture is art. Perfume is more like craft or design. This is something that I started to believe while working with Nobi. Do you call a pair of $2500 jeans made in Kyoto with superb craftsmanship using 18K gold threads art?

Or here is another example; do you call jewelry art? People who don't really understand fine art might call it art, but jewelry belongs to craft or design. At A Lab On Fire we are creating something that people would feel beautiful or special about themselves, and that has nothing to do with “art” in quotation marks.

Serguey Borisov:
In Japan people have a different approach to fragrances, as I have heard. How does it influence what you do?

Carlos Kusubayashi:
I would love to say my nationality has nothing to do with what A Lab On Fire makes, but it influences my preferences at subliminal level. Like the character played by Denzel Washington in the movie The Equalizer says, you gotta be who you are in this world, no matter what.

Serguey Borisov:
How do you create your perfumes?

Carlos Kusubayashi:
This is a loosely guarded secret, and I'd rather not speak about it.

Serguey Borisov:
What are their next projects to see and to smell?

Carlos Kusubayashi:
We are working on four or five new projects now, but none of them has a specific deadline, and I cannot tell when to expect new A Lab On Fire fragrances.

Serguey Borisov:
How do you see your future?

Carlos Kusubayashi:
I like to go by the flow and don’t want to think much about what lies ahead. If there is one thing I look forward to, it's being in dry and warm open land more often.

In the next interview Nobi Shioya will be answering the same questions in order to compare the artistic approach of both creators.