D.S. & Durga: American Artistic Perfumes from Brooklyn

Niche fragrance house founded in Brooklyn around 2007–2008 by David Seth Moltz, a musician and self-taught perfumer, and Kavi Ahuja Moltz, an architect. The brand is defined by a narrative approach to olfactory composition: each fragrance translates a literary, musical, or geographical world into scent.

History and philosophy

D.S. & Durga was born in Brooklyn from the meeting of two complementary sensibilities: the musical and literary vision of David Seth Moltz — whose initials, «D.S.», form the first half of the name — and the architectural eye of Kavi Ahuja Moltz, whose nickname «Durga», a reference to the Hindu goddess, gives the brand its second half. The two founders began the project entirely by hand, blending fragrances in their Bushwick flat and assembling the packaging themselves, rooted in the DIY spirit of Brooklyn's creative scene.

The brand's founding vision has remained intact: every fragrance is conceived and developed by David Seth Moltz, an in-house, self-taught nose, without the involvement of outside formulators. In 2024 the brand joined the portfolio of Manzanita Capital, the London-based group that also owns Diptyque and MALIN+GOETZ, while retaining its creative identity.

The style

D.S. & Durga's fragrances move across a range of olfactory families — aquatic florals, dry woods, herbaceous chypres — united by a consistently narrative thread: scent as the telling of a place, a character, or a sonic sequence. Raw materials span high-quality floral absolutes (tuberose, jasmine absolute, iris) to dry woods and unusual mineral notes such as copper, woven together with herbaceous accords and North American balsams. The compositions, predominantly eau de parfum, are unisex by design.

• Narrative fragrances that translate literary and musical spaces into olfactory accords.
• In-house nose: all creations are the work of David Seth Moltz, with no ongoing external collaborations.
• Unconventional raw materials: metallic notes, North American botanical essences, high-concentration floral absolutes.
• Packaging aesthetic overseen by Kavi Ahuja Moltz with architectural precision.
• Unisex range, predominantly in eau de parfum concentration.

Most celebrated fragrances

The catalogue runs to over a hundred references. Among the titles that have come to define the house's identity:

• Debaser — A green, fruity eau de parfum: fresh fig, coconut, and woods, one of the maison's most recognisable scents.
• Rose Atlantic — An aquatic floral: wild rose, bergamot, sea salt, and white musk, inspired by the Atlantic coastline of New England.
• Radio Bombay — A dry woody fragrance built around sandalwood, with notes of coconut, iris, and copper, conceived as a deconstructed take on sandalwood.
• Durga — A narcotically intense floral: tuberose, sambac jasmine absolute, orange blossom, ylang, and iris — the eponymous fragrance of the co-founder.
• I Don't Know What — An eau de parfum conceived also as an olfactory enhancer: bergamot, sandalwood, and transparent musks, designed for layering with other fragrances from the house.