In Essence

Alia Raza and Ezra Woods, the duo behind luxury perfume line Régime des Fleurs, see the act of creating fragrances as a higher art form. Named for works that explore the metaphysical realm, including that of Paul Gauguin and Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, Raza’s favorite novel (“It’s basically a gardenia in literary form,” she says), the ornately bottled eaux fall into three categories: the Lyrics, the Ballads, and the Epic—the latter being the most complex. “When we’re conceiving of and creating perfume, we see it as very referential, like writing poetry, and very sensorial, like cooking,” Woods explains. “Inspiration is infinite for us.”