Heritage
A house, in its own words
Teresa Helbig established her design practice in Barcelona, building her reputation primarily through haute couture before expanding into fragrance around 2016. The decision to enter perfumery reportedly came from a desire to extend her design universe into new sensory territories. Her fashion work caught the attention of the Victoria and Albert Museum, which included her pieces in an exhibition featuring clothing, accessories, and jewellery alongside work by designers like Daniel Roseberry. The brand also developed a presence at Perfumeria Regina, a Barcelona establishment that houses both a perfume retail space and the Perfume Museum, suggesting a natural affinity between Helbig's aesthetic sensibilities and the world of scent. The first fragrance releases in 2016 marked a deliberate entry into the market, with subsequent releases through 2017 and 2018 expanding the collection. While precise details about the founding year of the broader brand remain unclear from available sources, the fashion atelier has reportedly operated from Barcelona for years, with the fragrance arm emerging as a natural extension of her creative work. The brand's Spanish roots inform its aesthetic approach, drawing from Mediterranean color palettes and a particular attention to texture and form.
Teresa Helbig's approach to fragrance reflects her philosophy of personal storytelling through objects. Each scent in her collection carries a narrative dimension, whether inspired by specific places like Tangier, character types like Old Money's quiet wealth, or more abstract concepts represented by her own name as a fragrance title. She reportedly believes that fragrance should function as an intimate form of communication, speaking to the wearer in ways that other sensory elements cannot. Her work rejects the notion of fragrance as mere accessory, instead treating scent as a primary vehicle for expression. The decision to create A Bulldog in the Atelier, a scent named after what might seem an unconventional muse, demonstrates her willingness to pursue fragrance narratives that defy commercial conventions. Her fashion background informs this approach, as she considers how a fragrance moves through space and interacts with the body, much as she would consider how fabric falls or how a silhouette reads from different angles. The philosophy prioritizes authenticity over trend-following, creating scents that reflect specific moments, memories, or character studies rather than marketable concepts.