D.S. & Durga: The Self-Taught Perfumer Who Built a Brooklyn House Worth Buying

D.S. & Durga pairs David Seth Moltz’s perfume-making with Kavi Moltz’s design work. Music, plants and places feature in the fragrances, from Debaser’s fig-and-woods composition to Rose Atlantic’s coastal floral idea.

How the House Began

In his 2024 interview with The Creative Independent, David describes touring as a musician, waiting tables and reading old herb and gardening manuals. Recipes in those books encouraged him to start making things, which the couple initially gave to friends as holiday gifts.

Kavi, then working in architecture, suggested starting a business. David learned fragrance-making through experiments and written records; Kavi worked on design. In the interview, he describes their division of work as fragrance and words on his side, design on hers.

The brand’s own account places its beginnings in their Bushwick apartment and says its products are made in New York. Its playlists and descriptions make the cultural references easy to follow, but the most useful introduction is still a fragrance whose notes interest you.

Debaser: Fig with Green Notes and Woods

Debaser is the one to start with: fig, coconut and woods. The maker’s note pyramid sets green leaves and pear stem above a fig, coconut-milk and iris heart.

One in-store sampler enjoys its full, earthy fig and the depth added by woods and moss. Another wearer loves the green, juicy opening but finds a plasticky impression in the drydown. Fig accords lean on milky lactones, which can read as plastic to some noses, so compare the opening with the later scent when deciding whether this is your kind of fig.

David links Debaser to hearing the Pixies as a child. It does have the Pixies’ contrast of sweet and noisy: juicy fig leaf on top, a creamy, slightly dirty iris-and-coconut middle. Choose the original Debaser Eau de Parfum for this example. Debaser in Bloom is a different release.

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Rose Atlantic: A Different Starting Point

If fig and coconut are not what you want, Rose Atlantic offers a floral route into the house. Its maker lists bergamot, petals and lemon oil at the top; linden, rose accord and dune grass in the heart; then muscone, salt water and white moss.

The stated inspiration is summer on New England’s coast. Salt water and dune grass make it a rose growing on a sand dune, sharper and airier than most rose perfumes.

Ownership and Where to Try It

Manzanita Capital lists D.S. & Durga in its portfolio.

Use the brand’s store and stockist directory to plan an in-person visit, or browse its discovery sets and smaller formats online. An Amazon search can also help compare a named bottle, with the seller and supplied version checked on the listing.

For smaller makers with different approaches, explore Aftelier and St. Clair Scents, or use the niche-house guide to choose a few houses to try.