Heritage
A house, in its own words
Trey Taylor grew up in Canada before moving to London to study at Central Saint Martins, where he earned a degree in fashion and visual culture. After a stint as an editor at Dazed, he turned his analytical eye toward scent, launching Serviette in 2024 from a modest studio in Manhattan. The brand’s name references a napkin, a nod to the Victorian practice of scenting fabric to mask street odors. In its first year, Serviette introduced Frisson D’Hiver and Byronic Hero, two fragrances that quickly attracted attention from niche‑perfume collectors. 2025 saw the release of Ruche and Sour Diesel, expanding the house’s palette beyond traditional floral and woody notes. The following year, Serviette unveiled Priscus, a scent inspired by literary salons, and celebrated the launch with a Fashion Fiction event that paired fragrance with readings from classic novels. Throughout its first three years, the house has remained independent, producing each batch in small quantities and maintaining a direct‑to‑consumer model that emphasizes personal connection over mass distribution. The brand’s story has been covered by independent outlets such as Fragrantica, HALOSCOPE and The Dry Down Diaries, which highlight Taylor’s cultural‑critic background and his commitment to exploring the social dimensions of taste. Serviette treats fragrance as a social artifact rather than a solitary adornment. Taylor describes the line as an investigation of how "good taste" operates both personally and collectively, a theme that recurs in every launch. The brand draws inspiration from the Victorian era, when scented cloths served as communal tools for managing odor in crowded streets. By pairing each perfume with an embroidered napkin, Serviette encourages users to pause, unfold the fabric and consider the scent as part of a shared ritual. The house avoids generic claims of innovation; instead it focuses on concrete questions: how does a scent change when it is experienced in a group setting, and how does the materiality of a napkin alter perception? This approach aligns with Taylor’s background as a cultural observer, allowing the brand to position fragrance within broader conversations about class, etiquette and the politics of consumption. Serviette’s statements on its website echo this perspective, emphasizing that scent can act as a bridge between private memory and public display.