Heritage
A house, in its own words
Joelle Nealy founded Poesie after a career in publishing and editorial work, where she spent years interviewing creators and curating cultural content. Inspired by the idea that fragrance could function as a portable story, she launched the house in the late 2010s, debuting Opening Chapter in 2017. The early catalogue emphasized literary allusion; Watson (2017) referenced the detective’s keen observation, while Lady Disdain (2018) drew on a 19th‑century heroine’s defiant spirit. Young Romantics arrived in 2019, followed the same year by Chiaroscuro and Thrushcross Grange, expanding the brand’s narrative palette. In 2020 Poesie partnered with The Bunny Collection to introduce a line of scented teas, reinforcing the notion that scent can accompany both palate and imagination. The brand continued to release new compositions each year, including À la Reine (2019) and Emma (2025), each limited to a few hundred bottles. Throughout its growth, Poesie has remained a boutique operation, handling formulation, bottling and packaging in a single studio space, which allows the founder to maintain direct oversight of each batch. The house’s modest scale has attracted a niche of collectors who value the combination of literary reference, gender‑fluid scent design, and tactile presentation. Poesie treats fragrance as a narrative device rather than a decorative accessory. The brand’s creative brief asks each perfumer to consider a female figure—real or imagined—and translate that persona into olfactory language. This focus on women’s stories emerged from Joelle Nealy’s observation that many perfume houses still market scents through gendered tropes. By foregrounding writers, painters and fictional heroines, Poesie seeks to broaden the cultural conversation around scent. The house also embraces gender fluidity; none of its releases are marketed as "for men" or "for women," allowing wearers to choose based on personal resonance. Sustainability and craftsmanship are woven into the philosophy: ingredients are sourced with an eye toward traceability, and each batch is produced in quantities that keep waste low. The tea line, launched alongside the perfume range, reflects the same storytelling impulse, pairing aromatic notes with flavor profiles that echo the perfume’s mood. In interviews, Nealy has described the brand’s mission as offering "a quiet space for imagination," encouraging users to pause, inhale, and let a scent cue a memory or a daydream.