The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Club Design launched in 2016, the product of perfumer Christophe Laudamiel's restless imagination. The scent takes its name from a concept rather than a place: the lingering charge of a space once a club, the emotional residue of a night that made you feel like you were on a mission. The brief was simple, almost cinematic. A wearer has left the venue, but the feeling hasn't left them. Soft leather, musks that lean sensual, a thread of smoke. The atmosphere of a sexy lounge, bottled. The fragrance sold as a clothing spray as opposed to a skin fragrance, and it exceeds somewhat the upper recommended limit for skin use for safranal and coumarin. The formula walks a line between indulgence and caution, asking more of fabric than of bare skin.
The leather note didn't come from a standard aromachemical library. Laudamiel built it from a headspace analysis of new Spanish leather, then layered it over the natural leathery facet buried inside mimosa extracts. Two materials, neither obviously leather on its own, combining into something that reads animal and worn-in from the first hour. Molecular sandalwood anchors the middle, calibrated for skin warmth rather than the dense, candle-thick sandalwood of older formulations.
The evolution
The opening arrives with a marine saltiness, almost brine-like, mixed with something humid and earthy, the smell of stone after rain or the inside of a coat pocket that has seen a few seasons. Not pleasant in a polite way. Pleasurable in a fizzy, disorienting way. The blackcurrant sharpens the initial spray, grapefruit adds its own bitter edge, and the leather begins to assemble underneath, rising through layers that feel deliberate and composed. The first hour carries the mineral and salty character, balanced by a synthetic cool that hints at surfaces touched by weather and use. Mineral, salty, with a synthetic cool that anchors the composition before the warmer notes surface. As the leather locks in across the first couple of hours, suede reads more than skin. The mimosa surfaces with its powdery, slightly bitter floral, and the musk starts doing its slow, magnetic work.
Cultural impact
Club Design picked up an Art & Olfaction Award in 2018, the kind of recognition that carries weight in independent perfumery circles. The fragrance sits in conversation with leather-driven compositions like Tom of Finland by Etat Libre d'Orange, Imaginary Authors' The Cobra & The Canary, and Parfums Quartana's Ierofante, sharing their structural DNA while offering something distinct. Where many leather compositions chase smoke and shadow, Club Design builds its identity around the interplay between mimosa and leather, a powdery floral against an animalic base, producing a tension that feels more sensual than aggressive.
The House
The ZooThe Zoo is a New York City-based niche fragrance house specializing in vintage-dated, millésimée perfumes. The brand has built a following among collectors and fragrance enthusiasts drawn to its unconventional approach to scent composition. Their catalog spans from 2010 through 2022, with fragrances ranging from the playful Kiki's Plant Sex to the more recent Dangerous Curves. Each release is bottled with vintage dating, a practice the brand has highlighted as central to its identity. The house operates outside the traditional fragrance industry channels, maintaining a distinct presence that appeals to those seeking scents that deviate from mainstream perfumery conventions.
The Creator
Christophe LaudamielChristophe’s signature technique blends rigorous molecular research with theatrical staging. He favors crisp citrus, marine accords, and bright aromatics, then anchors them with unconventional synthetics that add depth.
