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Yesterday May 18th, 2015 on West Broadway in Soho, Osswald Parfumerie had their first annual charity event sponsored by the New York Mission Society. The event promoted Roja Dove, perfumist and innovative fragrance creator. The event was a great way for people to get in touch with the Osswald store as well as drink, mingle, and donate to a good cause in downtown NYC.
Downtown spoke with the owner Tanja Dreiding Wallace who joined Osswald in 2005. In 2012, based on her Swiss experience and commitment, she opened the first international branch of Osswald Parfumerie in New York’s Soho neighborhood. The store has been thriving in downtown NYC for three years now, but yesterday’s first annual charity event was a true successful launch to her fairly new location in downtown New York.
Downtown was able to personally speak with Wallace about her commitment to Osswald and what her intention for the event was. She stated, “I chose the NYC Mission society as one of the representatives because it is a charity that is very near and dear to my heart. Being a mother, I can really relate to the charity organization. I thought this event would be a great way for me to introduce the store to New Yorkers downtown, and this even overall being a great way for people to mingle and shop while also having the proceedings going to a great cause.”
Osswald is one of the most iconic perfumeries in Europe and has been a successful family corporation since 1920.
“I chose to place a shop in Soho simply because the “father” Osswald store is located in Zurich, where the business all began and it is a downtown setting as well. When I came here to visit New York, I absolutely fell in love with the city and said to myself, ‘We have to put a location here.'”
It was difficult for Wallace to acclimate to the area because she didn’t have many connections, however this event was a perfect way to introduce New Yorkers to the products, socialize and publicize its SoHo location. Wallace then stated that she will host charity events twice a year, concluding that the next charity event should be this coming in the fall of 2015.
The main perfume that was being promoted at the event last night was “A Goodnight Kiss” by Perfumist, Roja Dove. Roja is one of the world’s most innovative fragrance creatives and the industry’s most respected perfumer. His passion for scent sparked at an early age and is grounded in his memories. This particular memory holding on to his mother deals with love and gives Dove the opportunity to discover the sensuality of the world in new and surprising ways through his creations.
“I want to recognize my work as astonishing. I believe my fragrances work because I am the only perfumist who promotes fragrances for the west and actually lived in the Middle East,” said Dove.
From childhood, the experience of fragrance would transport Roja from the temporal to the fantastic– a place of perfection and dreams that could instantly be rekindled through scent. To this day, it is this artistic magic that inspires Roja to create unisex fragrances that surprise and astonish; perfumes that capture the exciting moments in his life– perfumes that are, the finest fragrances in the world.
“I have always said that I have lived the life I was born to lead. At some specific long lost moment a fragrant molecule entered my being and I was forever changed, my destiny was forged, it’s path galvanised. There was no other path to tread than that of perfumery,” Dove said.
The essence behind “A Goodnight Kiss” is truly touching, and we can all agree on that there is nothing more special than the impact a mother has on her child. Roja Doves’ “A Goodnight Kiss” is merely based on his own personal memory of his mother who passed away when Dove was at a very young age. It was a way to pay tribute and create a legacy for his mother by incorporating his expertise and past experiences to create the perfect fragrance. Dove manages to transform his fragrances into memories that he has kept inside his heart for everyone to enjoy and personalize with as well.
Dove’s personal experiences lead him down different roads, and this specific memory lead him to lower Manhattan. The idea of how the most tender of all humans, a gentle kiss and how it can have such a profound effect on a human being is remarkable, nonetheless creating something so elegant. There is substantial significance behind Roja’s fragrances and that is that the effervescence of each fragrance has deep meaning. The launch of “A Goodnight Kiss” was on January 6, 2015, which was his mother’s birthday. There is deliberate planning behind why Dove does what he does dealing with his business and his passion for perfume. There is a reason why each of his products exist, and they always have true significance.
“Everybody relates to the gesture of the kiss. Before the launch of this brand I said to myself that this product was the most frightening simply because ‘How can anyone relate to something so personal in MY life?’,” he said.
However, his memory and personal experiences are the window to his audience and what makes people gravitate towards his brand. It makes the fragrance special, therefore making everyone who believes in the fragrance, well, special.
-by Albany Reed