Aesop stores have always felt a bit like quiet libraries: calm, considered and best explored without rushing. Now, one in Sydney has become the real thing.
To celebrate the arrival of its newest fragrance, Unforeseen Aer, the Melbourne-born brand has transformed its Sydney flagship into Fragrant Fables Perfumery, a temporary multi-sensory installation exploring the relationship between fragrance, materiality and storytelling. It’s open to the public until 1 November, which makes it a very good reason to take the long way through the city.
Chapter one: the library
The concept is a “living library” of scent and sensation. Pages hang suspended in the air and drift gently overhead, while sculptural stacks, amber glass vessels, raw ingredients, incense and greenery fill the space. Part apothecary, part gallery, it’s a world away from the usual fragrance counter. Aesop describes the design as tactile rather than theatrical, a room that rewards close observation and invites you to explore at your own pace.
It’s also a very Aesop way to launch a perfume. There’s no giant billboard and no hard sell, just an invitation to stop, look closely and handle the raw ingredients. And you don’t need to know your fougères from your chypres to enjoy it. The space is designed to be experienced through sight, touch and scent rather than jargon.
The inspiration comes from the narratives behind Aesop’s Fragrant Fables collection, in which each eau de parfum is paired with its own short written fable.
Chapter two: the wind
At the centre of it all is Unforeseen Aer, which Aesop calls a characteristically nonconformist take on a classic fougère. It begins with what the brand calls a Fabulist Accord of geranium, lavandin and rosemary, meant to conjure pure air flowing across rugged heights. Meanwhile, nutmeg, the “Radical Ingredient”, adds a complex, textured warmth and makes the case for the merits of the imperfect.
The fable behind it is a good one. A gentle wind, afraid of the disruption it might cause, gradually learns to revel in the sublime chaos of its gusts and wild breezes. The message is to rethink what we see as flaws and to find potential in moments of seeming failure. Considering how many of us spend our lives sanding down our rough edges, that’s a pleasingly comforting moral for a perfume.
Chapter three: the details
The bottle gets a small redesign too. And features an embossed Aesop insignia and a textured cap inspired by basalt, the rock that forms the foundation of Aesop’s hometown, Melbourne. However, if the brand’s own cheeky copy is anything to go by, the fragrance suits wayfarers, kintsugi practitioners and meteorologists. We can see it.
For longtime devotees, the installation is also a rare chance to see how the brand thinks. Not just what it sells.
Plan your visit
- What: Aesop Fragrant Fables Perfumery, a temporary multi-sensory installation celebrating the Fragrant Fables collection and its newest fragrance, Unforeseen Aer
- Why: Aesop Unforeseen Aer Eau de Parfum, from $290
- Where: Aesop Sydney, Shop 2047, 188 Pitt Street
- When: Until Sunday 1 November
