More often than not one’s journey to success is unclear. You start life heading tentatively in one direction, and end up hurtling in another; chance encounters, friendships made, changes in circumstance, all serve to dictate your aspirational path.
The story of ODIN New York – as with most journeys – has certainly had its undulations, but is nonetheless triumphant in its outcome. It was Autumn 2004 when Eddy Chai and Paul Birardi opened their first ODIN Boutique in East Village in New York. Eddy (Art Director) and Paul (Experienced Fashion Retailer); their knowledge of branding, merchandising and progressive business models saw them curate and cultivate an environment dedicated to men of niche tastes and how they shop.
It was in 2009 that the journey that began based on sartorial interests made a deviation towards curation, and more specifically the world of fragrance. In October of that year, Odin opened its third location in the West Village in a rustic space that allowed the owners to stock their first line of fragrances. Paul and Eddy introduced Odin Fragrances, a set of three distinctive unisex fragrances – 01 Nomad (now 01 Sunda), 02 Owari, and 03 Century. Since then five further ODIN scents have been released1 to grow their fragrance offering to eight unisex scents.
“Under the spice trade routes comes an exotic wealth of rare scents. Sunda attracts rich notes of juniper berries and cedar leaves from the high regions of the Himalayan Mountains with mysterious Palmarosa and spicy black pepper” – 01 Sunda (Formerly 01 Nomad)
A journey that began in fashion now continues in fragrance as ODIN continue to develop the range, increasing both with the variations in fragrance, and in the way that you can enjoy them; in 2011 Odin Home Fragrances was introduced mirroring the parfums in candle form.
Each scent tells a story, one of journey, aspiration and depth – all attributes represented in the fragrance, in essence painting a fragrant picture. The descriptive nature of their scent composition is reminiscent of a Master Distiller as he recounts the journey of his whiskey from wheat to cask, and maturation to bottle.
This ODIN range has developed from a conceptual fragrance capsule collection to one of great significance, reified by the growth of the range and key international distribution2. Their experience of unearthing cult niche fashion and widespread knowledge of ingredients makes them the perfect hosts to guide through your fragrant journey.
www.ODINEDT.com
- In July 2010, Odin Fragrances added a fourth fragrance to the collection, 04 Petrana, their first floral scent. Skipping 05, 06 Amanu was released in the May 2011 exclusively at Barney’s New York, and 07 Tanoke for Holiday 2011. In 2011 Odin’s 06 Amanu won the FIFI’s first ever award for Best Indie Fragrance this year and in 2012 they were nominated as a Top Ten Finalist for the Fifi Awards Best Packaging Men’s Prestige category. In September 2012 08 Seylon was launched in stores, closely followed by 09 Posala in October 2012. ↩
- ODIN NYC fragrances are available at Odin New York, Aedes de Venustas in New York, Barney’s New York nationwide, Colette in Paris, Liberty in London, Quartier 206 in Berlin, Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, and Isola in Madrid. ↩
