The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
The name says everything. Editor in Chief was developed as part of the Esquire collection, a fragrance for the person who walks into a room and already knows what needs to happen. Perfumer Richard Herpin built it in 2024 for Michael Malul London, the U.S.-based niche house founded by Hanan Malul in 2019. Where other launches from the house leaned into mood and atmosphere, Editor in Chief leans into authority. Not loud. Not aggressive. Just composed in a way that makes everyone else adjust.
The cashmere wood in the heart is doing quiet heavy lifting here. It's a synthetic aromatic material, soft, creamy, slightly woody, that adds a texture you don't find in many fragrances at this price point. Layered with patchouli, labdanum, and vetiver, it keeps the heart from becoming heavy even as the warm spices from the opening settle and deepen. The result is a woody-balsamic middle that reads powdery without going talc-box, earthy without going dirty.
The evolution
The opening announces itself in full. Clove hits the air first, bold, almost confrontational. Cinnamon follows. Then the apple arrives sweet and round, cutting through the spice like a correction in red ink. The three mingle for the first thirty minutes in a sort of controlled chaos. By the time the heart takes over, the clove has softened into something warmer, and the cashmere wood arrives to smooth everything out. Patchouli and vetiver ground the composition without darkening it. This is where the fragrance shifts from statement to presence. The drydown belongs to the base: birch, sandalwood, cedarwood, and a vanilla-tonka blend that stays close to the skin for hours. No fireworks. Just a warm finish that lingers long after the room has emptied.
Cultural impact
Editor in Chief has found an audience among fragrance wearers who want something with authority but without the theatrical weight of heavier masculine releases. The warm spice and apple combination gives it a seasonal flexibility, it reads autumn and winter, but the powdery drydown keeps it from feeling heavy in milder weather. Among Michael Malul London's broader catalogue, it sits at the more composed end of the spectrum, closer to West Loop than to the introspective Ocean Noir.
