strangelove nyc

strangelove nyc is an American niche perfume house based in New York City, built around real, sustainably sourced oud and other rare materials. It styles its name in lowercase as a single word. The Perfume Society and the brand's own team page both record the house as established in 2013 [3][8], though the company's about page dates it to 2014, the year its first fragrance reached the market [2]. It was founded by raw-materials specialist Elizabeth Gaynes, who leads the company as CEO, with supermodel and photographer Helena Christensen as creative director; several sources describe the two as co-founders [8][6].

The house positions itself deliberately outside the commercial mainstream. Its perfumes carry unusually high oil concentrations, and its identity is organised around oud, an aromatic resin the company calls one of the most expensive substances in the world.

The brand traces back to Gaynes's earlier work with oud in the early 2000s, when a trip to Borneo led her into sustainable ingredient sourcing. She later co-founded GaiaOne, a venture focused on sustainable farming of essential oils, and it was through that work that oud became central to her perfumery [3]. Around 2010 she shared an oud-based perfume oil with Helena Christensen at her Manhattan apartment; by Gaynes's account, Christensen "fell in love with it and asked to be part of the company" [7].

Sources differ on how to describe Christensen's role. The company's own team page lists Gaynes as sole "Founder & CEO" and Christensen as creative director, while The Perfume Society and press coverage frame the house as co-founded by both women [3][8]. Christophe Laudamiel, who composed the first fragrances, is credited as perfumer rather than a founder.

The house was established in 2013. Its first fragrance, Dead of Night, launched in 2014 and coincided with a debut at Harrods in London [6]. According to Robb Report, strangelove has since released six core fragrances, each with oud concentrations exceeding 25 percent [6]. The company describes a slow development process, with Gaynes saying each scent takes about two years and hundreds of iterations to complete.

Gaynes has said she wanted "to start a perfume house purely dedicated to quality and sustainability, specifically using oud and other rare and unusual ingredients." The company presents itself explicitly as non-commercial: "We are not a commercial brand, but there is a huge market for niche perfumes," Gaynes told Impact Wealth [7]. In Robb Report she framed the choice as a rejection of scale: "We could be on every corner, producing faster and with less care, if I wanted to go that route. But I don't." The brand names quality, sustainability, transparency, rare ingredients, craftsmanship and empowerment as its core values.

Oud sits at the centre of every fragrance; the company says it uses two kinds of sustainable, natural oud in each perfume, drawn from farms in India, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. The perfumes are formulated at high strength, which the brand puts at 20 to 30 percent oil-based pure perfume. The line spans eau de parfum, pure perfume oils, body oils and perfume-oil necklaces.

The debut scent, Dead of Night, was developed with independent perfumer Christophe Laudamiel [6]. Later releases include Fall Into Stars, Melt My Heart, Lost In Flowers, Silence The Sea and A Fire Within, with a sixth composition credited to Hamid Merati-Kashani at Firmenich. The company states that its products are cruelty-free, gluten-free, and free of parabens and phthalates.

Sustainable sourcing is presented as central to the house rather than an add-on. The company says it works only with tree farms it considers fully sustainable, citing the pressure that demand for oud has placed on Aquilaria (agarwood) and sandalwood, both of which it describes as close to extinction from logging. Through GaiaOne, Gaynes partnered with the fragrance-ingredient firm Givaudan on a 600-acre Borneo plantation for organically grown essential oils. All blending and bottling, the brand says, is done in the United States.

strangelove has been featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Byrdie, Harper's Bazaar Arabia and The New York Times, among other publications. Robb Report profiled it as a "Cult-Favorite Fragrance House Powered by Oud" [6]. Christensen's public profile as a model and photographer is closely tied to the brand's identity.

The house is active. It operates a full retail catalogue online and through partners including Harrods, added board members in early 2024, and was named official scent partner for the 2026 Royal Versailles Ball [6]. Its fragrances are also carried in the Nordic market.