It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly drives the energy of an artistic era. Be it the flourishing folk scene in 1960s Laurel Canyon or the high-kicking pomp of Paris’s Belle Époque in the late 19th century, there was just something in the air. 
 

Bottling the zeitgeist is no easy feat, but through luxury cult brand 19-69, Johan Bergelin has sought to do just that. For over two years, the Swedish artist and product developer collaborated with artisans across France, Italy, and Scandinavia on a perfume line launched at Colette in 2017. Soon after its launch, the line quickly sold-out.  
 

Among the gender-free scents are Rainbow Bar, its notes riffing on LA’s glam rock scene in the ‘80s (bourbon, bergamot, and vetyver), and citrus-soaked Capri, inspired by the 1963 French new wave film Le Mépris. 
From five core fragrances, Bergelin entered a period of lush creativity himself. Today, 17 scents and nine candles now make up 19-69’s range, including an olfactory throwback to Miami Vice and Paradise Lost in the ‘80s, charged with lemony ginger and “Cocaine Accord”; Chronic, a grassy tribute to SoCal cannabis cultivation in the ‘90s; and a love letter to Paris in L’Air Barbés, the neighborhood resonant in a whiff of lemon, concrete, and ink. 
Few things are more seductive to the idle mind than dreaming of another place, or another time. Luckily, 19-69 shuttles you in a spritz.