The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Foxhunt arrived in 2010 as something stranger than a perfume, though nobody at D.S. & Durga called it that at the time. The piece reimagined the 18th- and 19th-century vinaigrette pendant, those small silvered medallions women once pressed to their noses to survive the smell of pre-sewer city streets. This particular Foxhunt was a concentrated oil meant for linen and a perforated Victorian locket, the result of a collaboration between the brand and jeweler Erica Weiner. Foxhunt and its companion, Empress Jing, were the two modern vinaigrettes that came out of that partnership. The idea was to revive an old form of scent carriage, to make something that wasn't a cologne, wasn't a pour, but rather a small wearable meant to be tucked against the chest and warmed slowly by body heat.
What makes Foxhunt distinctive isn't the note list, a tight bundle of leather, patchouli, wild flowers, and wild herbs, but the way D.S. & Durga built it for a second skin rather than the first. Conventional fragrance gets sprayed, then lives or dies by sillage. Vinaigrette oils do the opposite. A few drops go on linen, slip into the locket, and heat from the body activates the release through tiny perforations. The scent hovers at collarbone distance instead of broadcasting across a room. That delivery system has consequences for the composition too. Oils meant to be warmed slowly and smelled up close can afford to be rougher around the edges.
The evolution
On linen, Foxhunt opens with green herbs and leather, the kind of opening that announces itself without shouting. There's something floral underneath from the start, though it rarely announces itself in the first half-hour. The composition reads as a tussle between the green top notes, the floral heart, and the leather that anchors everything to something heavier and more grounded. The wild flower component eventually surfaces, but never fully takes over the composition, preferring to weave through rather than dominate. It reads as dusty, late-summer meadow rather than anything sweet or pretty. The green notes sharpen the middle phase, a cool wind cutting through warm hide. The leather deepens over time, taking on an earthier, more root-like quality as the hours pass.
Cultural impact
Foxhunt was launched in 2010 alongside its sister piece Empress Jing, both developed with jeweler Erica Weiner as modern vinaigrette oils. The format sets it apart from nearly every other fragrance of its era. Instead of a spray or a splash, Foxhunt arrives as a concentrated oil designed for linen and a perforated locket, reviving the 18th- and 19th-century tradition of carrying scent close to the body in a small silvered pendant.
