Heritage
A house, in its own words
Shabnam Tavakol grew up in California before moving to France to study at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery, a school known for its rigorous training in raw material selection and formulation technique. After completing her studies, she returned to the United States and established Kismet Olfactive in New York City. The brand name, Kismet, translates from Persian to “fate” or “destiny,” a nod to the founder’s heritage and the serendipitous moments that inspire each composition. The first public release, The Poet, arrived in 2018 and was followed by a series of fragrances that reference personal memories, travel experiences, and literary forms. In 2019 Kismet launched Studio Scent and Macba Barcelona, two scents that highlighted the studio’s willingness to explore both abstract concepts and specific places. 2020 saw the introduction of Wedding in Oaxaca and L.A. High, each framed as a narrative snapshot of a ceremony and a cityscape respectively. The following year the house added Tuberose Tantra, République Paris and Nymphéas, expanding its palette to include floral intensity and aquatic freshness. Throughout its development, Kismet has remained a small‑scale operation, producing each batch in limited quantities and distributing primarily through its own website and select boutique partners. The brand’s history reflects a continuous dialogue between the founder’s Persian roots, French technical training, and the multicultural environment of New York. Kismet Olfactive treats scent as a language for personal storytelling. The studio’s creative process begins with a written prompt – a poem, a travel diary entry, or a memory of a specific moment – and then translates that narrative into olfactory form. Shabnam Tavakol emphasizes transparency in ingredient choice, preferring natural extracts when they align with the intended mood while allowing synthetics to fill structural gaps. The brand values sustainability, sourcing raw materials from growers who practice responsible harvesting and supporting small‑scale farms when possible. Each fragrance is released with a brief description that explains the inspiration, encouraging wearers to connect the scent to its backstory. Kismet avoids mass‑market trends, instead focusing on timeless compositions that can evolve with the wearer’s own experiences. The studio also encourages feedback from its community, using comments to refine future releases rather than to chase sales metrics.