David Seth Moltz

About David Seth Moltz

David Seth Moltz is the perfumer behind D.S. & DURGA, the fragrance house that grew out of DIY-era Brooklyn. He is the "D.S." of the name; "Durga" is his wife, Kavi, a trained architect who designs the brand's visual world.

Career

The brand describes David as a self-taught perfumer who developed his own aromatic language, which is unusual in an industry built on formal training. Speaking to ELLE in 2012, he traced the start to making his own grooming products and wanting to recreate an old-fashioned bay rum. Those early experiments became gifts for friends. He placed the moment in 2007, when many young people in Brooklyn were excited about craft and slow methods. The work began in a small Bushwick apartment, and the house still makes its scents in New York. By 2012 the couple had made custom perfumes for Rodin and Shipley & Halmos and a limited-edition line with Anthropologie.

Creative Style & Philosophy

David has called perfume a "transportative" liquid that carries the mind to other places and times, and he sees great perfume as closer to art than to an accessory. He has said he creates the scents "from idea to juice," while Kavi designs everything around them. He admits to struggling with vanilla paired with sandalwood. Even so, he argues that composition moves beyond like and dislike: each material should be judged by its effect on the whole.

Signature Works

• *Debaser* — a composition of fig and green leaves, whose name connects with the Pixies song.
• *I Don't Know What* — a fragrance designed to be worn on its own or layered with other scents.