The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Amore arrived in 2020 from La Folie a Plusieurs, a perfumery house that builds fragrances from artistic dialogue rather than market briefs. The name is an open door, Italian for love, or something closer to it. What the fragrance does with that opening is less obvious than the word suggests. Mark Buxton structured it around a tension: cool powder against warm florals, florals that refuse to go sweet. The peonies don't flutter. They arrive with weight. The iris doesn't float, it holds. Built from a framework of artistic intent rather than conventional brief, the scent channels a deliberate push and pull that makes love feel like a negotiation rather than a surrender.
What makes Amore distinctive is the way the powdery notes and the woody notes share space without taking turns. The cedar and sandalwood arrive while the florals are still present, creating a simultaneous cool-warm quality that doesn't resolve into one or the other. The oak and patchouli in the base add an earthy weight that keeps the florals from floating away. Frankincense ties the composition together with a subtle resinous quality that reads as warmth without sweetness. It's a structure that rewards attention: the first wear is the opening. The second wear is everything underneath.
The evolution
At first spray, violet and iris arrive together, a cool, powdery accord that reads almost metallic, like light catching a sequin gown. Clean. Precise. There's no warmth yet, just the quiet confidence of something already in place. Then the peonies arrive. Full petals, not fragile ones. A rusticity that keeps the florals from reading as delicate. The heart has weight. Warmth builds gently, not a transition but an arrival. The florals deepen as cedar and sandalwood emerge underneath, keeping everything grounded. By the fourth hour, the drydown settles close to skin. Sandalwood and cedar together, musk adding warmth, patchouli giving just enough earth to keep it real. The frankincense lingers as a quiet resinous note underneath everything. Lasts through the workday. Stays close. That intimacy is the point.
Cultural impact
Amore has found its audience among fragrance collectors who appreciate conceptual rigor over commercial appeal. The solid longevity scores make it particularly attractive to those who want a fragrance that performs on skin rather than just reading well on paper. The intimate sillage also suits those who prefer discretion. It's the kind of fragrance that stays close to the skin, revealing itself to those nearby without announcing itself across a room. This quality makes it appealing to wearers who want fragrance to be a private experience rather than a public statement, something that reveals itself through proximity rather than projection.
The House
La Folie a PlusieursLa Folie a Plusieurs is a fragrance house that treats scent as an artistic medium, creating perfumes in dialogue with works by visual artists, filmmakers, and writers. Founded in 2014 by Kaya Sorhaindo, the brand operates across Berlin and Paris, translating creative concepts into olfactory form rather than following traditional fragrance families or conventional brief structures. Each fragrance begins with an artist's work, which Sorhaindo then interprets through materials chosen in collaboration with independent perfumers. The result extends the original creative act into a new sensory dimension, inviting wearers to experience presence rather than recall the past. Museum boutiques across Europe and beyond serve as primary retail spaces, positioning these fragrances as cultural objects rather than conventional luxury goods. Notable works include Norwegian Wood (inspired by Haruki Murakami's novel), Kafka On The Shore (drawing from Murakami's companion text), and a perfume interpreting Yorgos Lanthimos' film The Lobster, developed with perfumer Mark Buxton. The brand's fragmented naming conventions, visible in titles like Me·Cha·No, Da·Cry, and As·Phyx·Io, reinforce the conceptual framework of dissolution and reinterpretation that underlies the entire project.
The Creator
Mark BuxtonMark favors a structural approach that starts with a strong base, often built from rare woods, ambergris substitutes, or aged resins. He layers these foundations with carefully selected heart notes—spices, florals or herbs—that add depth without overwhelming the base.
