From Amnesia to Les Bains, these fragrances smell like infamous nightclubs

Think of the smell of your favourite club, and it might bring a sour taste to your mouth: stale cigarettes, pissy toilet cubicles, an indiscernible stickiness. But there’s also a glamour and sense of magic there: stepping out of the club to an Ibiza sunrise, conversations in a smoky corner, dancing until your sweat smells like absinthe. Capturing these night scents is perfume brand Discothèque, with a new collection that bottles the essence of disco’s legendary nightclubs.

This debut collection spans iconic party cities and draws upon some of the most famous clubs in their prime years: Ibiza in 1989, LA in 1986, Paris in 1979, alongside New York, Tokyo, Marrakech, and Mykonos. Scurry down a side street in Shibuya and visit Tokyo’s Womb, known for its wraparound sound system, giant descending mirrorball, and legendary techno and house lineups. Or join the queue for Nell’s in New York, the intimate club that hosted legends and was the last stop for Andy Warhol. Each scent is accompanied by a sensual fictional narrative courtesy of New York-based erotic writer, Jessica Garrison, who brings them to life.

Inviting you to step into their hedonistic playground are founders Jessie Willner, Hanover Booth and Whitney Moulton. Discothèque was born from their love of being completely lost in a moment in an era where most experiences are curated through screens. Prioritising ethical and sustainable practices, the team sought to create fragrances that transport us to a time when nights were raw, unfiltered and unapologetically alive. We caught up with Discothèque to find out more about the collection and the stories behind the scents.

Why did you choose to focus on disco for this debut collection? What resonates with you about this scene?

Discothèque: So much of what we experience now is like a simulation; you don’t actually have to be there to see it or hear it. You can just infinitely scroll from your bedroom. Discothèque was born from our love of being completely lost in a moment, especially on a dance floor, and for that second nothing else mattering. 

We became obsessed with an earlier time than ours, when people were forced to live in that very moment, where the internet didn’t exist yet, and you had to actually go out to get inspired, you had to go listen to a DJ’s set to discover your next favourite unknown song, or go to the club to see what everyone was wearing. It was just people loving every second they were in, you can hear it in the music and you can see it in the fashion, they pushed each other to go further and lean into whatever they were feeling. 

How did you go about creating a scent for a specific time and place?

Discothèque: There were two sides to the development. The first, and all-encompassing one, was obviously developing the fragrances themselves. It started by us narrowing down what clubs, places and stories we would base these scents on. We interviewed loads of different friends and heard many a wild story. And we had what felt like a thousand brainstorming and research meetings, until we had decided on the final seven we were dead set on for the first collection. 

Once we had that foundation, we worked with our perfumers, who are so unbelievably talented and each need a shoutout (Elodie Durande, Christian Provenzano, Jean-Charles Mignon, Julie Pluchet). We worked on every scent individually because we wanted everyone to feel like its own world. Then we started piecing them together. It was an amazing process, linking notes to different emotions, places, taking bits of memories, or the plants that we knew grew in a certain city, or someone telling us a story about a really specific thing that happened on a night there and incorporating it into the fragrance somehow. It was really important to us to make unique scents, that also you felt an instant connection with, like it unlocked this part of you that was already there, inviting incredible things to happen when you wore it.

Why did you choose these specific years and cities? What made them special?

Discothèque: Each fragrance started with a club that held some significance, whether personally or culturally. Then we picked years when the clubs were thriving and built everything else around that time. Like, how were people feeling when they were going to it? What was the city like at that time?

Many brands have honoured a time and place through scent that meant something to them, but there’s something special about paying homage to places that were burned into the collective memory of an entire generation, and still mean something to the generations that followed. These clubs held weight because it was where so much culture was created: new music, new fashion, new ideas. All of the nightclubs we picked were those things coming together in a way that helped define an era.

As well as the glamour, nightclubs are also associated with less alluring aspects, like sweat, filth and cigarettes. Did you use any unconventional notes to represent the grittier side of nightlife?

Discothèque: This one’s a two-faceted answer, because when you remember a night out you’re not thinking ‘what did it smell like,’ but ‘what did it feel like?’ So we say most of the scents are inspired by the feeling, rather than the club itself, to spare us from recreating strictly the smell of spilled drinks and cigarettes. But on the other hand, layered in some notes that evoke vivid memories: a life-changing conversation in a very smoky corner, a new friend made for life while dancing until your sweat smelled like absinthe. The result doesn’t smell like the actual walls at the club or the dancing bodies, but more like the best memories of them, and we do tend to let our imagination run wild.

Could you see the brand exploring other musical genres or legendary nightlife scenes in future collections, such as techno or hip-hop?

Discothèque: Yes! Music and fragrance are both such evocative senses, which is what gave us the idea to mix them in the first place. All of the candles, and now perfumes, pay homage to clubs that pioneered various genres in their cities. One of the aspects of the brand that excites us the most is that it’s inspired by an endless world of music and club culture, and the possibilities of what to do next feel never-ending.

What is next for Discothèque’s future?

Discothèque: We’re so excited for the future because the brand has really taken on a life of its own, merging all these things that we, and everyone on all sides of it, are passionate about… which lends itself to such a crazy amount of ideas and possibilities. Our vision is constantly evolving and becoming bigger as the brand grows, so we can’t wait to follow it and take everyone along with us for the ride, making sure they smell incredible on the way.

The Discothèque fragrances are available exclusively at Selfridges.