Extinct flowers are this brands fragrant muse with the debut of the Scent Surrection Collection

Roz Wicks

As a fragrance marketer and fragrance trend forecaster I always get excited by new launches, new fragrance stories and fragrance creativity. I love hearing the inspirations behind collections and reading words crafted to transport you to the scent before you’ve even smelt it.

And that’s exactly what this new brand did when I read about it’s launch. The Future Society has focused on a very unique muse and story: extinct flowers.

The perfume brand was developed by leading Boston-based beauty biotech firm Arcaea, founded by MIT-trained scientist Jasmina Aganovic.

After sequencing the DNA of extinct flower samples from Harvard Herbarium, the brand collaborated with renowned perfumers (including Jérome Epinette: Robertet, Daniela Andrier: Givaudan and Olivia Jan: Givaudan) to bring these lost blooms new life– creating singular scents that can only be made through biology.

It was the DNA sequencing technology that made it possible to understand what scent molecules these flowers may have once produced. This data was then shared with the brands perfumers, who used their knowledge of aromachemicals and botany to create six fragrances for the Future Society’s Scent Surrection Collection.

Now, not being a trained scientist, botanist or biologist I have no idea how this actually works, (I’ve watched every Jurassic Park movie – they didn’t cover this), but for me its the stories and the ethos behind the scents that I love. It’s a new way to look back and look forward at the same time, or as the brand puts it; “It is a combination of art and science, enabling consumers to experience the stories of these flowers once thought lost to time”.

Future Society Scent Surrection Collection:

Grassland Opera

We used powerful biotechnology to sequence a DNA sample of Orbexilum stipulatum, a flowering plant that once flourished on Rock Island in the Falls of the Ohio but was last observed in 1881. The flower is thought to have collapsed when the buffalo ceased migrating across the planes.

Its fragrance is an open composition that grounds our brazen consciousness.

THE WORLD THIS SCENT CREATES

Its colour is a flash of emerald glittering through a crack in the ground.
Its look is a satin bomber jacket and shorts, patterned in a bold botanical.
Its mood is an eclectic mystique.

TOP NOTES: Bergamot, Clary Sage, Ginger, Fig Leaves
HEART NOTES: Ylang Ylang, Jasmine, Mimosa
BASE NOTES: Sandalwood, Patchouli, Guaiacwood, Akigalawood, Ambrofix

Floating Forest

We combined the intelligence of DNA sequencing and the imagination of the world’s best perfumers to give new life to the extinct Shorea cuspidata, a towering tree endemic to Borneo whose branches once grazed the sky at up to 45 meters. Last spotted in the wild in 1998, logging activities in its forest habitat forever took its descendants from the earth.

The fragrance is a sanctuary of stillness in our shifting world.

THE WORLD THIS SCENT CREATES

Its colour is a green speckled stone—worn round and edged smooth.
Its look is a jacquard cocoon top, sleeves billowing in the breeze.
Its mood is a moment of meditative release.

TOP NOTES: Black Pepper, Bergamot
HEART NOTES: Freesia, Waterlilly, Rose Absolute
BASE NOTES: Cedarwood, Salted Musk, Wet Stones, Papyrus, Driftwood

Haunted Rose

We used powerful biotechnology to sequence a DNA sample of Macrostylis villosa subspecies 1 + 2, a small aromatic shrub with needle-like leaves that once produced clusters of white flowers for long periods of the year throughout South Africa. Its population fragmented in 1960 due to the effects of urbanization on the shrub’s native regions.

The fragrance is an unwavering spirit that illuminates our tomorrow.

THE WORLD THIS SCENT CREATES

Its color is a petal-flushed cheek—sweetened with anticipation.
Its look is a silk slip dress, embellished with feathers and a chiffon hem.
It’s mood is an enthralled tranquillity.

TOP NOTES: Black Pepper, Saffron
HEART NOTES: Rose Absolute, Passionfruit
BASE NOTES: Ambroxan, Sandalwood

Solar Canopy

We used powerful biotechnology to sequence a DNA sample of Hibiscadelphus wilderianus, a Hawaiian endemic species that once covered the Southern Slope of Haleakala but was last observed in 1912. The tree that produced this flower vanished due to deforestation.

The fragrance is a rhythmic release of kinetic energy, spiralling us infinitely.

THE WORLD THIS SCENT CREATES

Its colour is a gleam of fuchsia shooting across a hot orange sky.
Its look is a gradient-print macrame dress, fringe swishing loose.
Its mood is the heartbeat of euphoria.

TOP NOTES: Bergamot, Red Currant, Pink Pepper
HEART NOTES: Turkish Rose, Lychee, Pistachio, Magnolia
BASE NOTES: Vetiver, Ambroxan, Pink Sugar

Reclaimed Flame

We used powerful biotechnology to sequence a DNA sample of Leucadendron grandiflorum, a species that once flowered on the Western Cape of South Africa. This species has not been spotted since 1960, as frequent wildfires spurred on by land development.

The fragrance is a beat within our hearts that keeps us forever outspoken.

THE WORLD THIS SCENT CREATES

Its color is a flicker of gold glimpsed as the sun crackles the horizon.
Its look is a high-shine iridescent skirt, worn with flat matte sandals.
Its mood is the redefinement of rules.

TOP NOTES: Bergamot, Grapefruit
HEART NOTES: Geranium, Curcuma, Eucalyptus
BASE NOTES: Armoise, Chamomile

Invisible Woods

We used powerful biotechnology to sequence a DNA sample of Wendlandia angustifolia, a small flowering tree that once thrived in India’s Western Ghats Mountain Range. Due to perpetual drought that overtook the region, its delicate white bloom had not been recorded since 1917.

The fragrance is a tangled wind that whips us into the known unknown.

THE WORLD THIS SCENT CREATES

Its color is an inky purple night, brushstroked by silver clouds.
Its look is a wool bustier layered over a mesh turtleneck.
Its mood is captivated by contrasts.

TOP NOTES: Grapefruit, Eucalyptus, Ginger
HEART NOTES: Rose Absolute, Chamomile
BASE NOTES: Iris, Akigalawood

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