Escentric Molecules unveils its first boutique in Berlin, establishing a new permanent home in the heart of Mitte.
To coincide with its 20th anniversary, Escentric Molecules puts down a permanent marker in Berlin. The brand’s first boutique opens at Auguststraße 62 in Mitte, launching at the beginning of Berlin Art Week as a new space for fragrance, art and experimentation.
On one of Berlin’s most gallery-rich streets, the boutique takes over a former art gallery, placing fragrance in a setting where art, design and installation converge. It feels less like a conventional fragrance store than an extension of the city’s creative landscape – a place to encounter scent as something to look at, move through and experience. Berlin has always been central to the Escentric Molecules story, too: it is home to perfumer and co-founder Geza Schoen and the fragrance lab where the brand’s scents are first conceived.
“The opening of our Berlin boutique is a defining moment for Escentric Molecules,” says Paul White, creative director and co-founder of Escentric Molecules. “More than a retail space, it is a physical expression of who we are as an independent fragrance house and an invitation to experience the brand in its purest form. Berlin has always been a part of our DNA, and creating a permanent home here allows us to deepen our connection with our community. It’s an important step in building a global brand with meaningful, long-term cultural relevance.”
Architect Sophie Schoen-Berianidze, partner of Schoen and longtime friend of White, worked closely with White during the initial stages of the project to help translate the brand’s DNA into a boutique space. Rather than following the familiar codes of fragrance retail, the space borrows from Berlin’s galleries, museums and industrial architecture. Its former life as an art gallery remains part of the DNA, reimagined as an environment where fragrance can be encountered through more than scent alone. A series of screens, anodised aluminium and controlled lighting create a stripped-back backdrop for scent, sound, movement and image to interact, shifting the experience from simply discovering fragrance to experiencing it.
“We envisioned a gallery-like space, a place where fragrances could be experienced rather than simply displayed. The result is a space that truly captures the spirit of Escentric Molecules, a space that invites visitors to engage with the fragrances in a more immersive and meaningful way,” says Schoen-Berianidze.
The design extends Escentric Molecules’ long-standing creative principle of synaesthesia, translating the experience of fragrance across senses. For White, music has long been integral to his creative practice. Before Escentric Molecules, his design work spanned music and visual culture, including album artwork for artists such as Björk.
That sensibility carries into Escentric Molecules, where fragrance is approached through a similarly multidisciplinary lens. The stripped-back pulse of German techno, in particular, became an important reference point for White. There is something in its repetition, precision and physicality that resonates with the way Escentric Molecules approaches scent. The boutique brings these influences together through a choreography of sound, visuals, light, and movement, creating an environment designed to be seen, heard, and felt.
Functioning both as storage and kinetic installation, the product wall of the boutique is built as a seamless aluminium grid of pull-out drawers. When closed, it reads as a single, monolithic surface, punctuated only by small illuminated cut-outs displaying individual fragrances. Pull one of the upper sections forward and the wall opens up, revealing a screen alongside shelves holding every format of that scent.
The system turns the act of browsing into something physical and unexpected. What first appears to be a solid architectural surface becomes a series of hidden worlds, with each drawer revealing another part of the Escentric Molecules collection.
The programmed movement of drawers creates an element of surprise and reinforces the boutique’s sense of fragrance as something dynamic and alive.
“This store marks the final step in establishing Escentric Molecules as a truly independent fragrance house,” says Geza Schoen, perfumer and co-founder of Escentric Molecules. “Every element reflects our brand DNA, from the use of aluminium and subtle binary-inspired details to the carefully crafted soundscape, creating a calm, multi-sensory experience. This location feels like a natural home for the brand.”
After dark, the relationship between the boutique and the street changes. The products recede, and the space becomes a glowing gallery embedded in the city, with moving images unfolding across a large-scale display that projects onto the street. The visual programme will continually evolve, creating a platform for artists, filmmakers and other creative voices.
By morning, the space shifts once again, from visual experience to fragrance discovery, blurring the boundaries between store, gallery and creative space.
Escentric Molecules Berlin opened on 8 September.
Auguststraße 62, Mitte 10117 Berlin
Monday – Saturday 10:00 – 19:00
