CB I Hate Perfume
Olfactory memoir from a Brooklyn studio.
Christopher Brosius opened CB I Hate Perfume in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2004, after leaving Demeter Fragrance Library — which he had co-founded in 1992 — to work as a solo perfumer. The name comes from a manifesto he wrote in the late 1990s objecting to overprojecting designer scents; the gallery functions as both studio and storefront. The work is built on water-based Accord perfumes alongside more conventional alcohol formats, and the catalogue reads like a list of remembered moments: In the Library, At the Beach 1966, Black March, Burning Leaves, Russian Caravan Tea. Brosius leans on tinctures, naturals and idiosyncratic synthetic accords to sketch specific scenes rather than abstract bouquets. It is a singular American niche house, beloved by collectors who want perfume to behave as memoir or short story rather than as evening-wear.
DNA over time
Each column is an era. Each colored band shows that family’s share of accord weight across every perfume the house released in that window. Bigger band = the house leaned harder on that family.
