Heritage
A house, in its own words
Contraband was founded by Ananya Birla, a musician and entrepreneur who transitioned into the fragrance world. The brand emerged from a personal desire to build an Indian luxury fragrance house that could stand on equal footing with international labels, rather than be positioned as an alternative to them. From the start, Birla anchored the project in Swiss perfumery expertise, drawing on the country's centuries-old tradition of fragrance creation centered around Lake Geneva and its surrounding ateliers. The brand launched publicly in 2024 with a debut collection of eau de parfums. Less than a year later, Contraband announced a partnership with Parcos, India's premier multi-brand luxury beauty retailer, becoming the first Indian fragrance house to be stocked in Parcos stores across the country. This retail milestone mattered because Parcos has historically served as the entry point for global luxury fragrance brands in India, including houses like Chanel, Dior, and Tom Ford. Contraband's placement signaled that an Indian-founded label could occupy the same retail environment. The brand's early catalog expanded quickly. By 2025, releases included Summer Chase, Hands Off, Have It All, and You Again, covering fresh, spicy, and sweet olfactive territory. A fifth fragrance, Not Vanille, is listed for 2026, suggesting an ongoing release cadence rather than a single launch cycle. Birla herself has spoken publicly about Contraband in interviews, framing the house as a long-term project rather than a celebrity side venture, though the brand remains young enough that its deeper history is still being written. Contraband's creative identity rests on a deliberate tension: the brand positions itself as an Indian luxury fragrance house, yet builds its scents in Switzerland, a country long associated with the technical and artistic peak of European perfumery. This duality is central to its philosophy. Rather than treating Indian heritage as decorative or as a marketing layer, Birla has framed the project as a way of placing Indian creativity at the same table as established European luxury, with Swiss perfumery providing the technical language and Indian sensibility shaping the direction. The brand's naming choices reveal its editorial voice. Fragrances are titled Summer Chase, Hands Off, Have It All, You Again, and Not Vanille, each phrase carrying a colloquial, almost conversational energy. This linguistic register suggests the house is targeting a younger fragrance consumer, one who might find the conventional vocabulary of traditional luxury perfumery (florals, orientals, chypres) dated. Contraband seems to want to be worn casually, referenced casually, and discussed casually. Birla has spoken about wanting to compete with global brands from India rather than from a defensive position. The word 'contraband' itself carries connotations of something smuggled or forbidden, and the brand plays with this idea: luxury that feels slightly illicit, familiar that feels slightly transgressive. It's a positioning aimed at consumers who already know mainstream luxury perfumery and want something adjacent to it, not subordinate to it.