The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Durga is the fragrance that distills the identity of the Brooklyn brand into scent. In Brooklyn, 2017, the Moltz household had already built something. D.S. was composing full-time, Kavi was designing. The brand had its voice, spare, typographic, precise. Names that meant something. Durga was the fragrance that named the house directly, not a concept, not a memory. The brand's voice carries through in this composition: precise, intentional, built from restraint rather than excess. Each fragrance from the house reflects the same commitment to substance over spectacle. Durga captures that ethos, the quiet authority of creators who build things meant to last, distilled into something you can wear.
The note structure does something unusual: tuberose appears twice. Top and base. The same flower, two moments in the composition, expressing different facets of itself. In the opening, it arrives with its green, almost sappy intensity, tuberose as it exists in nature, before the perfumer tempers it. The chrysanthemum amplifies this green-herbal quality. Neither is sweet. Neither is soft. Melon is the surprise. It keeps the opening cool, almost cold, adding a watery sweetness that reads as ozonic rather than fruity. Against the green tuberose, it creates a tension, the flower wants to overwhelm, the melon keeps it in check.
The evolution
The opening announces itself with force. Tuberose and chrysanthemum hit together, green and herbal, almost aggressive in their natural intensity. Then the melon surfaces, that cool, ozonic quality that reads as water, as cold fruit, as fog lifting. The green intensity doesn't disappear, it gentles. The orris root surfaces, bringing its powdery iris quality, and suddenly the composition has direction. The heart phase isn't a replacement; it's a refinement. Ylang-ylang and orange blossom add cream without sweetness, pushing the composition toward elegance rather than opulence. The drydown brings jasmine sambac and musk that settle close to the skin, warm and intimate. The tuberose that opened so aggressively becomes something softer, more personal. This is a fragrance that lasts, that transforms from bold opening to something more quiet and refined as the hours pass.
Cultural impact
Durga occupies its own space in the white floral category. The ozonic quality and powdery iris drydown set it apart from more theatrical interpretations of tuberose. Where some white florals demand attention, this one offers something cooler, more measured. The melon note introduces a watery sweetness that tempers the flower's richness, creating balance. The tuberose here doesn't overwhelm, it performs with restraint. The result is a white floral that reads as intimate rather than insistent, grounded in its cool-floral character.
The House
DS&DurgaD.S. & Durga is a Brooklyn-based fragrance house founded in 2007 by husband-and-wife team David Seth Moltz and Kavi Ahuja Moltz. David Seth Moltz, a self-taught perfumer and former indie musician, composes all the house scents while Kavi handles visual design. The brand creates immersive fragrances inspired by specific feelings, places, and cultural moments, ranging from the American West (J. Crew Homesteader's Cologne, 2013) to historical periods (Beverly Hills 1985, 2010) and abstract emotional states (You Kill Me With Silence, 2018). D.S. & Durga is notably a perfumer-owned house, giving the founder creative control across the entire brand. Their catalog spans chypres, colognes, and aromatic compositions, with later releases including Royal Purpure and King Majesty Bergamot Chypre (2024). The brand operates from Brooklyn, New York, and has developed a following among fragrance enthusiasts drawn to its narrative-driven approach.
The Creator
David Seth MoltzSelf-taught and deliberately unconstrained by classical training, Moltz favors an unconventional palette that includes unconventional materials alongside traditional ones. His fragrances tend toward the narrative and atmospheric, often featuring sharp contrasts: sweet against…
