Moth

Close

All about this fragrance

Vibe check

Moth suits an evening that has slowed to close conversation, its honeyed rose drawing people nearer while powder and smoke keep the mood sombre. There is an old-fabric softness to its florals, interrupted by the sharper suggestion of something smouldering.

How to wear

Cool weather gives the dense spices, honeyed florals and smoky woods room to unfold. Start with one light spray on skin beneath clothing for a more contained effect; add another only after the fragrance has settled. In warm rooms, a restrained application keeps the sweetness and smoke from dominating.

Who it’s for

For those drawn to gothic florals, powdery iris textures and smoke-laced woods rather than bright freshness. Moth will appeal especially to wearers who enjoy honeyed sweetness set against dry, shadowy notes and a deliberately unconventional composition.

Release year

2018

The nose

Tomoo Inaba approaches Moth through literary imagery and carefully chosen textures: spices evoke crackling fire, heliotropin and iris suggest powdery wings, and woods build the smoky foundation. His earlier Zoologist fragrance, Nightingale, shares a rose accord with Moth, giving the two compositions a subtle connection.

Collaborators

Zoologist founder Victor Wong helped shape the fragrance’s central concept. When Inaba proposed Black Panther as its name, Wong suggested Moth instead, linking the composition’s powderiness to wing scales and proposing smoke to express the creature’s dangerous attraction to flame.

Zoologist’s story

Founded in Toronto by Victor Wong, Zoologist translates animal habitats, behavior and appearance into unconventional perfume rather than literal animal smells. Its compositions embrace both beauty and strangeness, using synthetic alternatives to animal-derived musks; Moth contains no animal ingredients.

Moth’s concept

Moth grew from Kagaribi, a prototype inspired by a Japanese poem linking watchfires with enduring love. Its transformation into Moth gave the powdery floral composition a darker narrative: rose embodies passion, spices suggest fire, and smoky woods evoke the peril of approaching the flame.

Extra info

Despite its honey and ambergris notes, Moth contains no animal ingredients: honey, ambergris and musk are represented synthetically. During development, an early version contained so much cumin that Victor Wong compared it to Beijing duck.