Scented Snippets New Event: Tigerlily Perfumery UNRELEASED Project / Introducing Antonia Kohl, The Players and the Perfumes

Months ago, I received a joint missive from Jeffrey Dame and Antonia Kohl.by: Ida Meister

They were busy brainstorming after their recent exhilarating trunk show with Jeffrey and Andy Tauer.  There had been an exuberant outpouring of community support including 120+ people, West Coast perfumers included.

Had the time come to expand to an online website presence [beyond the brick and mortar]?

What other concepts could they cook up?

What if they asked their perfumer friends to share / reveal their favorite, personal, or clandestine projects? Fragrances they had created for themselves, private projects hitherto unsniffed by the public? Current works-in-progress? Fragrances not market-driven, not part of the "big machine?"

Creating art as you wish it to be, for art's sake?

And would I be interested in covering this as an exclusive on behalf of Fragrantica and its readers?

[How do you think I answered?!]

Fortunately for them—and for us— this idea was warmly received by enthusiastic perfumers who not only agreed to participate—they would also provide us with a video piece to accompany their compositions!

This is how the UNRELEASED Project came into being.

Here are the participating perfumers [in no particular order]:

Josh Meyer [Imaginary Authors], Bruno Fazzolari, Ineke Ruhland [Ineke], Yosh Han [Yosh], Shelley Waddington [En Voyage Perfumes], Maria McElroy [Aroma M],Jeffrey Dame [Dame Perfumery], Swiss perfumer Andy Tauer [Tauer Perfumes],British perfumer Liz Moores [Papillon Perfumery], and I Profumi di Firenze.

And the upcoming releases?

Well, Tigerlily is producing a one-time-only sampler set. Some will be available for sale, while others may not.

FRAGRANCE TEASERS

Andy Tauer of Tauer Perfumes, with Jeffrey Dame

Tauer Perfumes: a dark, mysteriously woody fragrance. No current release plan.

Josh Meyer of Imaginary Authors

Imaginary Authors: fresh cedar and saffron limited edition collaboration with a trendy lifestyle brand. Will likely release before Tigerlily is able to.

Liz Moores of Papillon

Papillon Perfumery: Bohemian vanilla with white florals, tobacco and labdanum. No current release plan.

Bruno Fazzolari

Bruno Fazzolari: a spicy sweet herbal tribute to his time as an artist-in-residence at the Marin Headlands Center for the Arts. Hiking through the spicy brush trails on the Marin coastline. Release date pending.

Yosh Han of Yosh

Yosh: a raw woodsy earthy collaboration with indie filmmaker Marco Castro. Imagine the fleeting image of a wild animal in a damp dark forest. Will launch as early promotion for the film Animal. Release date pending.

Ineke Ruhland of Ineke

Ineke: a polished olfactory exercise that explores a lovely skin powder bolstered by suede. No current release plan.

Jeffrey Dame of Dame Perfumery Scottsdale

Dame Perfumery: gardenia, gardenia, gardenia soliflore! Release date pending.

Maria McElroy of Aroma M

Aroma M: inspired by the love of a father and daughter, butterflies and flowers—this scent is part of an art installation which will be traveling from Rome to Naples and Berlin. Notes include amber, tonka bean, gardenia, muguet, and violet. Release date pending.

I Profumi di Firenze: a sweet lotus blossom fragrance. Will launch in the U.S. with the UNRELEASED program, available at Tigerlily Perfumery first.

Shelley Waddington of En Voyage

En Voyage: an homage to summer and the sense of freedom it brings. Citrus and osmanthus over tropical and summer florals and a warm base of sandalwood, vanilla, amber, oak, woods, and musks. This is a personal fragrance that Shelley blends only for herself and a few friends.

Let's take a gander at our two culpable co-conspirators, yes?

Jeffrey Dame [as we know] is the force behind Dame Perfumery Scottdale Perfumes and Colognes and Parfums Retro, with perfumer Hugh Spencer as his comrade-in-arms.

Jeffrey is a "lifer" in the perfume world, beginning with his apprenticeship with the Estee Lauder corporation and numerous fragrant adventures along the primrose path [Long Lost Perfumes, representative for M.Micallef, for Andy Tauer, currently].

Dear Jodi Battershell has written a wonderful article about him here on Fragrantica.

Antonia Kohl is the proprietress of Tigerlily Perfumery in San Francisco: the only perfumery of its kind in the area dedicated solely to artisan and indie/niche fragrances.
Tigerlily's mission is to foster a sense of playfulness and joyful exploration of these wonderful and wearable scents, bringing beauty into the lives of many with their extensive collection of unique and cult-favorite brands.

West Coast perfumers gather at a recent Tiger Lily trunk show

“Proprietress Antonia Kohl is like the Willy Wonka of Perfume”, announces Kelly Crispen in the SFGate column "Top 100 Shops 2014."

And so it appears.

I've only had the pleasure of written correspondence and long telephone conversations, but I'm a convert; with her remarkable candor and full-bodied throaty laugh, Antonia is delightful.

[I harbor hopes of meeting her in person within the next year, if fortune permits]

Antonia was very gracious and forthcoming when we discussed her background and her vision.

“Why 'Tigerlily?” I inquire.

“To combine 'the beauty of the lily' with something rare and fierce,” Antonia tells me. [I like the answer. It appeals on several levels.]

Antonia is a native Californian who grew up in the Berkeley area. Her mother was “a no-nonsense woman who never wore perfume”, but an early 1st or 2nd grade encounter with a young admirer who presented Antonia with his mother's filched tea rose eau de toilette [soon thereafter to be dutifully returned]—began her lifelong intrigue with fragrance. This romantic icon continued to haunt her.

She moved East to attend the well-respected Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with her BFA in Printmaking. Antonia explored and mastered silk-screening, Xerox technology, painting. Live music inspired her. She went on to pursue a 20 year career spanning the comic book industry, toy design, game development and system design.

[Antonia has been a significant force in the design arena, holding a patent as Executive Producer at LeapFrog Enterprises and Co-Founder and Chief Designer at Mighty Play  - a women-owned digital design and development company in San Francisco].

Antonia felt that she had “done it all. I wanted to work with people; I love learning what makes them tick.” She felt that the San Francisco area was lacking “an indie house”.
Her friend and mentor Judith Brandman introduced Antonia to niche; friends Ineke and Yosh introduced her to other local perfume talent. A shared space with a French accessory store provided a good start [Jeffrey Dame and Ineke advised Antonia to proceed slowly].

In four-five months, Antonia plans to expand. It's her desire to be able to provide custom-blending classes with Sarah Horowitz-Thran and other perfumers, schedule events and workshops. Provide a venue for more lines of fragrance. There is always room for more creativity and play.

Tigerlilyperfumery.com hopes to be up and running by the end of July!

Keep posted with us as the plot thickens and the perfume samples and accompanying videos come in!

We here at Fragrantica will put them up for all to see, along with each and every perfume review ...

[That might take a few columns, I suspect.]

I'm so excited! I hope you are, too.

Tigerlily logo and shop images: Tigerlily