The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
D.V was created by perfumer Sian Lee and launched in 2025. Its brief is visible in the composition itself: a fresh, floral woody musk that opens with the glint of lemon, pink pepper, pear, and hinoki wood before moving into jasmine, rose, violet, fig, and aldehydes. There's nothing ornate about the premise. It wants to feel polished and composed, but the green fruit keeps a little tension alive underneath that neat surface.
The unusual part is the handoff between materials that usually live in different fragrance families. Hinoki wood gives the opening a cool, clean grain, while lemon and pear introduce a crisp fruitiness. Pink pepper adds a small flash of bite. Then the composition shifts into white flowers, fig, and a polished aldehydic effect, before musks and sandalwood make the whole thing feel smooth, soapy, and easy to wear.
The evolution
D.V starts with a clear, almost papery brightness. Pear and lemon lift the first impression, pink pepper adds a tiny spark, and hinoki keeps it from becoming simply sweet citrus. The heart brings the softer register: jasmine and rose make a floral center, violet adds a cool violet-soda edge, and fig brings a green, milky depth. Aldehydes lend a clean, polished lift as the composition settles. By the drydown, the sharper fruit and pepper are mostly background notes. White musk, musk, sandalwood, and cotton flower take over, leaving a smooth woody floral trail with a gentle soapy finish. Expect the clearest expression early, then a calmer musk-and-wood finish over the next several hours.
Cultural impact
D.V connects contemporary fragrance culture with the visual language of hinoki wood, a material strongly associated in Japan with bathhouses, shrines, crafted architecture, and quiet moments of reset. Presenting the note within a modern floral woody musk composition can make that cultural reference feel accessible to international audiences without treating it as a costume or slogan. The use of lemon, pear, and pink pepper adds a bright, cosmopolitan contrast to the grounded hinoki profile, while the clean musks and sandalwood base reflect familiar conventions in contemporary perfumery. Together, these elements place D.V at the meeting point of Japanese material heritage and globally legible ideas of freshness, restraint, and everyday ritual.
The House
UNDER THE PERGOLAUNDER THE PERGOLA is a new fragrance house with a compact, intriguing catalogue emerging between 2023 and 2026. Led by perfumer Sian, the brand pairs the intimacy of a shaded garden with compositions made for close, personal wearing. Its name suggests a place to pause, where scent becomes part of the atmosphere rather than a distant performance.
The Creator
Sian LeeThere is not enough verified information to define Sian Lee’s technique or preferred ingredients. The available notes name no materials, extraction methods, composition styles, or performance priorities that can be confidently linked to this perfumer.
