The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Seventh Avenue arrived in 2017, composed by Jérôme Epinette, a perfumer whose work tends to balance clean, modern clarity with something warmer underneath. The name suggests a city block, a stretch of urban architecture, the kind of street where polished stone meets evening fog. The brief reads like an editorial moodboard. Bergamot and citrus at the top, present but not loud. Then suede, rendered as scent rather than texture, soft and close, almost like the smell of a favorite bag left on a chair. Blackcurrant threads through the middle, dark and slightly tart, the way fruit holds a secret at its center. The base pulls together tonka, sandalwood, amber, and musk into something that feels less like a formula and more like an atmosphere settling into fabric.
What's interesting here is the choice of suede over traditional leather. Suede is warmer, more intimate, less about structure and more about the feel of something worn until it softened. Pairing it with blackcurrant is the smart move: the fruit's tart darkness keeps the suede from going too soft, gives it a slight edge so the whole composition doesn't slide into pure comfort. The base is where Epinette shows his restraint. Tonka and sandalwood could easily tip this into gourmand territory, but the amber and musk keep things grounded, smoky-adjacent without ever crossing into incense. It's a careful architecture. Nothing oversold.
The evolution
The opening belongs to bergamot. It arrives clean, almost sharp, like the air after rain on warm pavement. There's a brief window where the citrus does all the talking, and for a moment Seventh Avenue feels like a different fragrance entirely, something lighter, more everyday. Then the suede takes over, and the shift is real. It comes in like a room warming up: less a note arriving and more a temperature changing. The blackcurrant appears in the early going, a dark fruit sweetness that sits underneath the suede like a memory. Eventually, the citrus fades entirely. What's left is suede, tonka, and sandalwood doing the heavy lifting, with amber threading through to add depth without weight. The musk arrives last, and it's the element that keeps everything so close to skin. This doesn't project dramatically.
Cultural impact
Seventh Avenue sits within And Other Stories' perfume oil line. Jérôme Epinette composed the fragrance, and his characteristic restraint shows in how the notes behave: nothing announces itself too loudly, nothing fades too quickly. The fragrance carries a quiet, composed sensibility, more about atmosphere than announcement. It is the kind of scent that fits into a personal collection without demanding attention on its own. What gives it resonance is the way it bridges categories that usually stay apart. The citrus opening reads modern and architectural, the kind of clarity you'd associate with contemporary perfumery.
