6 Style-Minded Scents Usher In a New Kind of Fragrance Wardrobe

“I see fragrance as an extension of my wardrobe,” says Victoria Beckham, whose collection this fall goes beyond deconstructed trench coats and plush turtlenecks to include three debut scents. “You are tapping into all the senses when smell becomes a factor. It’s how you dress yourself.” There is merit to having a signature perfume—an aide-mémoire that lingers in your absence—but a cache of design-minded fragrances makes the case for a sartorial array. Here, six tastemakers riff on their creations, imagining which clothing item best reflects what’s worn on the wrist.

Gabriela Hearst | Paysandú

The Uruguay-born designer expands her brand this fall with two fragrances, created with Fueguia 1833. “Both scents, Paysandú and New York, are pieces of my childhood, my memories, and my soul, in a way,” she says. A nod to her motherland, Paysandú is a resinous blend layered with jazmín del país and the medicinal herb carqueja. She sees it with a knit wrap from her line, made by artisans from the nonprofit Manos del Uruguay.

Frédéric Malle | Heaven Can Wait

To Malle, Heaven Can Wait reads like “second skin—it’s a mood rather than a moment,” he says of the latest by perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena. Evoking “intimacy and warmth,” with notes of clove, carrot seed, and iris, the fragrance seems to find its textile equivalent in bed linens and little else. Malle instead suggests a worn-out sweatshirt, unfussy in its deep comfort, to accompany this “very soft yet textured perfume.”

Tory Burch | Essence of Rose

“I design fragrances the same way I design my collections: They are tools for self-expression,” says Burch. Her new scented oils—odes to rose, sandalwood, and vetiver, ideal for layering— stoke that creative impulse. Her favorite is a calibrated mix of Bulgarian rose and bergamot, akin to nailing the “ideal balance of silhouette, fabric, and fit in a jacket.” Fall’s two-piece ivory look with exposed boning strikes the same tone: “romantic and sensual.”

Victoria Beckham | Portofino ’97

“Fragrance for me is emotional and subjective,” says Beckham, who calls her trio of perfumes “extremely personal.” Suite 302 (tobacco, black cherry) conjures a night in Paris; San Ysidro Drive (saffron, incense) captures a stretch of LA life. This citrusy postcard from the Italian Riviera recalls her first trip with David Beckham—young lovers escaping the limelight. An aquamarine dress for fall, adorned with a plume, fits the occasion.

Armando Cabral | Mahogany Kora

The designer and model collaborated with perfume studio D.S. & Durga for this limited edition, featuring notes like papyrus, atlas cedar, and calabash nutmeg. “It takes me back to the ’60s in Mali, a time well-documented by the great Malian portraitist Seydou Keïta,” says Cabral. For him, a soft-texture white suit projects a “sense of elegance and depth, echoing the fragrance’s sophisticated nature.”

Loveshackfancy | Forever in Love

Once the type to faithfully wear a signature perfume, founder Rebecca Hessel Cohen came to appreciate the idea of an olfactive wardrobe. “It’s just like your actual closet in fragrance form—different scents for different seasons, moods, times of day,” she says. Of the three new scents, Forever in Love is her morning pick. “It’s gardenia and green pear—so open and optimistic.” The brand’s Ruffle miniskirt mirrors its flirtatious personality.