The Art Of Storytelling Through Scent Ft. House Of Dastan

0:28Hey guys, welcome back to Skin Anarchy. forward to this. Yeah, no, I really have been looking forward to this. I've fallen in love with the brand and I had, I loved it for a long time, actually, before we connected and so many questions for you about the inspiration and all the beautiful things that have gone into creating it. But I would love to learn more about you. And I know you and your sister co-founded the brand, correct? Sure. Yes. We actually started this project about six years ago and we learned a lot. We've been in industry for the past 15 years in the retail section of it and this was always a dream to create our own fragrance line based on our beliefs and what we really love and yeah after five years six years I would say we launched that last year in December 2024.

1:15Wow that's really amazing I think the brand's really kind of speaks for itself because it feels like it's been around for a while. I just, I don't know, I've known about it for a couple of years, but it's really something that has created a home in my collection. So I really love it. And I know a lot of you out there might have heard of it already, or you have multiple fragrances, but I want to dive into this cultural aspect of this, Hamed, because you're really bringing forward three different cultures, right? I mean, you're blending so much together. How is that? How did that come about when you were crafting the concept and the vision for the line?

1:47Yes, so I would say because we didn't really want to blend them in a way that I would say one culture or one of these experiences that we have is more significant. We just wanted to build it that all of these coexist together. Us being Persians, we wanted to always represent something that goes back to the Persian heritage, that depth, that poetry, that culture that we have. and then of course with Parisian and French people because they are the the true crafts man in perfume making and then we met our perfumer Richard Herpin and then we had a great connection and we really wanted him to start working on our fragrances and I believe in his work and also living in New York for the past 20 years we wanted to bring that edge style and sexiness of New York to the brand.

2:37So we approach each of these elements with reverence and where they overlap that that was when the magic happened and House of Thastan was born. That's beautiful. Yeah I think not much is known about truly known about Persian culture when it comes to fragrance. What were some of the things that you that stood out maybe from your childhood or your memories that you really wanted to bring forward and represent from the Persian side? Sure. So the Persian culture, it has a rich history and it's old, but because of the political situations out there, we always not get the most love, I would say, but we wanted to bring that out.

3:19We don't care about the politics. Politics aside, we want to just talk about that art, that love that we have. And it always goes back to when we were me and my sister we were kids it goes back to that kitchen when our grandma was cooking using rose water using cardamom that all the tea that they were making you know persians have six seven cups of tea every day and this is just the first memory that that comes up to our mind and it's just full of these notes and ingredients and then from the poetic side of the storytelling side of it is our dad he always loved the poets and poetry and he was always telling us a lot of stories and the whole idea that came about the house of dastan and brand which dastan means the stories it's it's about that storytelling that strategy that we had and the nostalgia from that time that's beautiful i love that so much and it's interesting because the fragrances in the collection I've fallen in love with quite a few of them but they are all so unique they're all very they don't blend together much and I've that's for me I find that to be great because sometimes many times a fragrance house that uniqueness doesn't stand out right in every single piece that's created and so what you guys are creating is think is just it's different stories and you can tell when you're using the fragrances and you're experiencing them now I want to talk to you about what it was like working with Richard and kind of having him translate your vision into the fragrance itself I mean what was that like sure yeah Richard Harpan you know he's he's one of the well-known perfumers out there and again like I have since I was 14 or 15 I had a couple of fragrances that I was wearing and one of them was his work that was one of my best woody fragrances that are out there, which is Tom Ford Oud Wood.

5:15And then when we met him, all these pieces came together. And we were like, we're ready to talk to him now and start working on creating these fragrances. So he, after hours and hours of conversation, he's more of a, I would say, role model to me or someone that teaches me about perfumery and exactly what's happening. so he understood our vision and it wasn't just about the scent it was the narrative it was whatever happened to us so Richard has this instinct for turning all those abstract emotions and stories into that olfactory form and he brought that sophistication and heart to to every formula and every fragrances that was created yeah it really shows and I think I know one of my favorite ones is you question mark for anyone listening and I I've really fallen in love with that scent I think it just I don't know it's it's like a very familiar feeling that it evokes for me and I'd love to tell if you could tell us maybe the story behind that I mean is there something specific that kind of inspired it sure yeah so with you the way that this fragrance created and also all the ingredients that are in there first of all we wanted to make sure that We create something that once you spray, it makes you, that person, happier.

6:36It puts a little bit of a smile on your face. And also, it's like a mirror. Because of the way the ingredients that this fragrance has, specifically this one, it's all about your chemistry. And it's your body and how this fragrance and the notes reacts on your skin. So every time, every person that sprays this, this fragrance becomes uniquely yours. I've had maybe I've sprayed this fragrance on hundreds of people but every single one of them had their own space and scent and every person has their different notes of this fragrance that started like to go really strong and coming out so it's really about that that space and how it reflects and and the people around you yeah no it's a beautiful beautiful scent and I think it really does adapt to you, your own personality in a way.

7:30I mean, that's what I experienced with it. I really, really love it. I think that the name captures exactly what you experience. It's a very personal fragrance. At the end of the day, that's what it feels like. Very personal. So I love it. I want to ask you about this. I know the world has fallen in love with Middle Eastern scent traditions and Middle Eastern fragrance houses, and there's been a lot of buzz in the media about it as well. I mean, what is your opinion on that in terms of how the industry is moving in that direction and anything, any insights you have on that? As you mentioned, it has been changing.

8:02A lot of Middle Eastern countries, culture scent was always something that was dominant. Going out, even from when I was, I was wearing perfumes when I was 12 or 14. My dad, my uncles, my mom, everybody's wearing perfumes. And also when you even go to the markets and it wasn't only about that finished perfumery products it was a lot of raw ingredients that rose water uh the the essential oils they were selling it raw in like a 5 ml flacon that was like fully filtered oil that you would just wear it so i think in the past 10-15 years people from middle east they wanted to bring that rich heritage out and it it wasn't exclusive about the heritage but it was also about that intimacy, the beauty, the sensuality, and the storytelling.

8:54So I think that just really brought this Middle Eastern perfumery, especially with the notes of oud and heavier notes, and brought it out, and it was introduced to the market. And people really started accepting it. Still new to the Western societies, but since now people are experiencing it, they're really enjoying it a lot. Yeah, it's a whole movement. It's a global movement now where people are realizing that there's an entire area of fragrance that we never even explored and that's Middle Eastern sense and I think that's why there's just so much interest when you look everywhere everyone is is talking about it and I love it because it's like it's celebrating culture and it's like finally giving I think homage where it has been long due and I think that that's where it's so intriguing I mean I think for anyone who's like an enthusiast or even if you're in the perfume world yourself fragrance world it's a very interesting movement just watching it kind of develop.

9:48I want to know when you were first sitting down, maybe with Richard, or when you and your sister were sitting down to discuss what the first fragrance would be, what were the initial conversations around, obviously the vision, but maybe even the notes that you wanted to bring out, or maybe something that you wanted to concentrate on that wasn't being, I guess, fairly represented in the industry? It's a very interesting question, actually, this one. I can go in many, many direction on this but i think what when we wanted to create and the first thing that we started talking for days and nights and we wanted to make sure we create something that is we had three approaches in in the beginning we wanted to make sure that we create stuff that is approachable likable and wearable and so so people and bring that sensuality to it so when we started talking about this so we we put all of the favorite ingredients favorite notes that we love and then all the favorite memories that we had with Sonia with Richard and then we started for the first five that we created we went through about a thousand different samples in a in a three years process I would say that took us the longest time the packaging the bottle the name was maybe two years.

11:10It really took us three years to create the scents. So based on those, when we were cherry picking the best notes that we wanted, the ingredients, and we gave it to Richard to make the magic happen. So that process was super interesting to us. And then we started getting to those final notes and created something that hit those three main key things that we wanted, which was approachable, wearable, and force likable. I love that. Yeah, that's really interesting because I really enjoy the longevity of all of your fragrances. I think that is something that really stands out about House of Destan compared to everything else I have in my collection.

11:49The longevity of the fragrances is unmatchable. And it's so beautiful how they open and they evolve on the skin. I mean, that is something that I think feels like you've spent years crafting every single fragrance. That's what it feels like when you experience it. Yeah, no, for sure. I think that process of it, we really paid a lot of attention to choose the right quality of ingredients to, because again, being in the industry, everyone wants to make sure the fragrance projects, has a great performance, and we tried our best to hit those targets. And I think so far has been great. People really have been getting these fragrances, leaving a lot of positive reviews.

12:28So I think we achieved that successfully. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, you definitely, I think you guys definitely nailed it. That's no question at all. I think it's very interesting, though, that you come from the retail side of fragrance because you kind of saw the entire industry at large before you started your own brand. How was that, that transition from retail into creating your own brand and then kind of building your own brand out? I mean, was there like a learning curve for you when you came over into your own thing? Yeah. Oh, for sure. Or, you know, I can think after years of helping other brands, partnering with other partners and brands to build their presence and build their perfumes or brands in the U.S., we really realized that we wanted to tell our own story of this.

13:12So I would say we currently maybe have about 600, 700 brands that have smelled maybe or tried maybe more than 2 ,000 bottles of fragrances in my life so far. Wow. So this experience gave me my palettes of access to different ingredients and understanding fragrances expanded significantly in these 10 years. So we really understood what the market really wants, what people are enjoying. You have different types of audience and customers too. You have people that are entry level. They are the ones that are a little bit advanced, but they are not too of a collector group. But then you have the collectors.

13:55You have the niche fragrance collectors that they are just like very complex scents. So this really gave us a great understanding how to start it and what type of ingredients and notes to start with a fragrance line. Yeah, I bet. After having such exposure, it really does. I mean, I can imagine how much refinement happens to your palate. I mean, it's really interesting to me because when I first experienced the fragrances by House of Destan, It was like, you guys aren't copying anybody. You're not redoing something that's already been done. That's the first thing I think for me as a consumer that stood out was, this is really unique.

14:34Every single fragrance in the collection is unique. It's something that you can build around. It wasn't something that I think many times I find myself as a consumer where a fragrance is layerable, right? And you layer it with another fragrance that is kind of the base and it's like the main story. But then with your fragrances, they are the base. They are the main story. So I think that complexity that you've brought forward in the whole brand, I mean, it really shines for me as a consumer. What was that like? I mean, did you guys go through like thousands of iterations for every single fragrance?

15:04I mean, how was the building process? Yeah, this is exactly one of the concerns that we had. We really didn't want, again, dealing with so many perfumes and also so many other practices that maybe some other brands were made that maybe one fragrance was very successful and everyone just made copies of it or maybe different variation, but we just didn't want to do it. You know, we really wanted to stay away from it and create something as unique as it gets. So that's what makes it very difficult actually to do this. That's why it took about three and a half, four years to do that and just come up with a formula that is when someone smells it, they don't like, well, this is a copy of that fragrance.

15:47There are always notes that are shared in some fragrances, but again, going to doing this for three, four years to get these ingredients right. I'm 100 % confident there's nothing similar to these perfumes, but that was the fun part. Very difficult, very challenging, but it was fun to also do it. Yeah, no, I mean, I can definitely see how much work went into this because it's interesting in today's market. I think everybody has like a box that they want to put every type of brand in. And it's really unique when you find brands that don't fit into a box. You know what I mean? They're doing their own thing.

16:24They're kind of paving their own way. And that's where I see you guys. Like, you know, you're doing your own thing and everything is unique. And so I find that to be very interesting. But I'm sure at the same time, the work is exponential that goes behind something like that. So, yeah, hats off to your team for doing that. I'm actually curious because I think the word luxury is thrown around a lot. Today's fragrance industry, I think luxury and what that means has evolved a lot. I mean, what does that mean to you when you think about true luxury experience and fragrance? What should we be kind of thinking about in 2025?

17:00To us, luxury is always, as you mentioned, it's just everyone, you see it that everyone throw that around. But I think luxury is really about care. It's about that service, it's attention to details, it's how much you put time and effort into artistry, that emotion that goes into every single bottle, every single aspect of that branding. So it's not really about the price points anymore. It's really about that presence. And we believe in that. We believe in that access to luxury and not always about that. I would say it's, but it's never at the expense of integrity. So you can be refined without being remote.

17:45And I think with House of Tastan, especially, it's, we created something that is, as I mentioned, is approachable, memorable, and very chic. And you really get that luxury without having the crazy price point on it. But you can feel that art. You can feel that attention to details that went into the brand. Yeah. Yeah, no, I think it's a very interesting time in fragrance right now. I think that the accessibility is definitely something that catches my attention because I remember even like 10 years ago to get your favorite fragrance, it was what? Ridiculous amounts of money, right? It was like six,$700 or something crazy.

18:23And now I'm just watching this world evolve into a place where it's, yeah, people are experiencing a lot more. And I think also consumers are going through fragrances a lot faster. They're also increasing their collections, their palettes. So it's a very fun time, I think, for fragrance. Sure, yeah, 100%. Yeah, so what are you working on now? Is there anything coming up for House of Islam that's in the works? Yes, we are actually in the process of creating actually three more fragrances that will be released in the next six months. There are two of them, would be a limited edition. Those two would be mostly, I would say, for the niche, frag heads the one that are really collectors so they're heavy based fragrances and it's only a thousand pieces that we're creating for each one of them and of course we're we're opening our first boutique in in so new york so we are expecting it to be open in november and that's a very fun project that i'm excited to get it done and finish congratulations that's amazing thank you thank you it sounds very exciting well no i absolutely love the brand and i can't wait to see what you guys do next i know a lot of our listeners are always looking for the best next niche brand to get behind when it comes to fragrance and if you guys haven't tried it already you have to check out also to stand i'll be linking everything in the show notes but hamad thank you so much this was so lovely to chat with you and to learn from you sure thank you very much and i hope everyone tried them and give us the feedback we want to know what you guys think and we would love to hear that absolutely and i'll collect all the feedback and send it to your team hey guys so i hope you love that episode please make sure to hit subscribe if you're tuning in to us on any podcast platform we are available on so many different platforms so wherever it is that you're tuning in just go hit subscribe you will be immediately notified when we publish new episodes this way you're able to tune in to amazing insights from experts, brand founders, industry leaders, authors, all the wonderful people that we host.

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