Heritage
A house, in its own words
Oliver Valverde opened Avant‑Garden Lab in 2010 after years of work in independent perfumery. The founder’s Instagram profile describes the space as a "laboratory of synesthesia and olfactory art" and notes that the studio has been "elevating your senses since 2010." Early production took place in a modest workshop in Madrid, a city that hosted every fragrance release from 2011 through 2018. During that period Valverde refined his technique, experimenting with raw ambroxan, green herbs and mineral accords. In 2020 the house issued a concentrated wave of releases—Ambergreen, Vaninger, Carina, Resina, M.O.U.S.S.E II, La Colonia, Vetiverus, Veil and TUB3ROSE—each bearing the year in its title, a nod to the brand’s chronological cataloguing. The following year saw two collaborative projects: J4SM1NE x CAL4MUS and TUB3ROSE x F1G, both announced on the brand’s social channels. A press note later reported that Valverde rebranded his personal perfume work under the Avant‑Garden Lab name, emphasizing the laboratory concept. Over a decade, the atelier has moved from a hidden Madrid studio to a recognized niche name among collectors who follow its experimental releases. Avant‑Garden Lab treats fragrance as a multisensory experiment. The brand’s stated mission is to translate visual and auditory stimuli into scent, a practice the founder describes as "flowers meet fire." This synesthetic approach drives each composition: colour palettes inform ingredient selection, while rhythmic patterns inspire the structure of top, heart and base notes. Valverde emphasizes transparency, often sharing raw material sketches and mood boards on Instagram. Sustainability is addressed through selective sourcing; the house prefers ingredients that can be traced to small‑scale producers, and it avoids mass‑market synthetics unless they serve a specific artistic purpose. The brand also values collaboration, inviting musicians and visual artists to co‑create limited editions that reflect a shared aesthetic. By framing perfume as an artistic laboratory rather than a commercial product line, Avant‑Garden Lab encourages collectors to view each bottle as a research specimen rather than a commodity.