Perfumer: Tomoo Inaba
Rich and gothic Moth starts with a heavy dose of dark spices to jolt your senses before settling into a dusting of honey-sweet rose and powdery florals. Slowly, it tests its wings, taking flight on an exotic journey of nagarmotha, guaiac wood and patchouli. Beneath it all lingers a smoky undertone that serves as a constant reminder to fluttering creatures of the danger in the tantalizing flame.
All about this fragrance
Vibe check
Moth suits a close, dim setting where its smoke and powdered florals can unfold without noise. It feels made for someone who moves quietly but leaves a charged impression, with a presence that is intimate, slightly mysterious and more compelling the nearer it is encountered.
How to wear
Best worn in cool weather or after dark, Moth benefits from moderate application because its extrait strength and smoky spice can feel dense up close. One to two sprays are usually enough to let the honeyed rose, iris and guaiac wood bloom gradually on skin, where the drydown becomes softer, warmer and more powdery.
Who it’s for
For wearers who enjoy smoky florals, resinous woods and a sweet-powder contrast with a gothic edge. It will appeal to people who like perfumes with narrative depth, a slightly vintage feel and a dark, textured finish rather than bright freshness.
Release year
2018
The nose
Tomoo Inaba is a Japanese perfumer known for a sensitive, atmospheric style that often balances texture, contrast and emotional depth. His work for Zoologist tends to feel narrative and painterly rather than merely decorative, and Moth shows that instinct clearly: spice, powder, smoke and floral sweetness are arranged like a slow, unsettling transformation rather than a straightforward bouquet. Inaba’s signature is the way he gives abstract ideas a tactile form. In Moth, he uses heliotrope and iris to suggest the softness of wings, rose to bring a dark romantic core, and guaiac wood and smoke to keep the composition in a tense, smoldering register. The result is a fragrance that feels both intimate and theatrical, which suits his storytelling approach well.
Collaborators
Victor Wong shaped the Zoologist concept and worked closely with Tomoo Inaba on the creative brief, refining the early prototype into a fragrance that embodied the moth’s fatal attraction to flame. The collaboration turned an initial idea into a more focused gothic narrative, with Wong guiding the house’s creature-driven vision and Inaba translating it into scent.
Zoologist’s story
Zoologist builds fragrances as character studies of animals, using independent perfumers to turn habitat, instinct and folklore into wearable narratives. The house favors bold, imaginative compositions with a strong conceptual identity, often dramatic in texture but still designed as unisex perfumes rather than costume pieces.
Moth’s concept
Moth grew out of an earlier prototype from Tomoo Inaba after his first collaboration with Zoologist. The concept was refined around the image of a moth drawn to flame, with the Japanese proverb about flying into the fire helping shape its tragic, seductive mood. The final composition leans into smoke, powder and dark florals to evoke that dangerous pull.
Extra info
Moth is an extrait de parfum released in 2018 and built around the image of a moth drawn to flame. Its composition is notable for pairing honeyed florals and powdery notes with smoke and guaiac wood, giving the fragrance a dramatic, wing-like softness beneath the darkness.
Perfumer: Tomoo Inaba
Rich and gothic Moth starts with a heavy dose of dark spices to jolt your senses before settling into a dusting of honey-sweet rose and powdery florals. Slowly, it tests its wings, taking flight on an exotic journey of nagarmotha, guaiac wood and patchouli. Beneath it all lingers a smoky undertone that serves as a constant reminder to fluttering creatures of the danger in the tantalizing flame.
All about this fragrance
Vibe check
Moth suits a close, dim setting where its smoke and powdered florals can unfold without noise. It feels made for someone who moves quietly but leaves a charged impression, with a presence that is intimate, slightly mysterious and more compelling the nearer it is encountered.
How to wear
Best worn in cool weather or after dark, Moth benefits from moderate application because its extrait strength and smoky spice can feel dense up close. One to two sprays are usually enough to let the honeyed rose, iris and guaiac wood bloom gradually on skin, where the drydown becomes softer, warmer and more powdery.
Who it’s for
For wearers who enjoy smoky florals, resinous woods and a sweet-powder contrast with a gothic edge. It will appeal to people who like perfumes with narrative depth, a slightly vintage feel and a dark, textured finish rather than bright freshness.
Release year
2018
The nose
Tomoo Inaba is a Japanese perfumer known for a sensitive, atmospheric style that often balances texture, contrast and emotional depth. His work for Zoologist tends to feel narrative and painterly rather than merely decorative, and Moth shows that instinct clearly: spice, powder, smoke and floral sweetness are arranged like a slow, unsettling transformation rather than a straightforward bouquet. Inaba’s signature is the way he gives abstract ideas a tactile form. In Moth, he uses heliotrope and iris to suggest the softness of wings, rose to bring a dark romantic core, and guaiac wood and smoke to keep the composition in a tense, smoldering register. The result is a fragrance that feels both intimate and theatrical, which suits his storytelling approach well.
Collaborators
Victor Wong shaped the Zoologist concept and worked closely with Tomoo Inaba on the creative brief, refining the early prototype into a fragrance that embodied the moth’s fatal attraction to flame. The collaboration turned an initial idea into a more focused gothic narrative, with Wong guiding the house’s creature-driven vision and Inaba translating it into scent.
Zoologist’s story
Zoologist builds fragrances as character studies of animals, using independent perfumers to turn habitat, instinct and folklore into wearable narratives. The house favors bold, imaginative compositions with a strong conceptual identity, often dramatic in texture but still designed as unisex perfumes rather than costume pieces.
Moth’s concept
Moth grew out of an earlier prototype from Tomoo Inaba after his first collaboration with Zoologist. The concept was refined around the image of a moth drawn to flame, with the Japanese proverb about flying into the fire helping shape its tragic, seductive mood. The final composition leans into smoke, powder and dark florals to evoke that dangerous pull.
Extra info
Moth is an extrait de parfum released in 2018 and built around the image of a moth drawn to flame. Its composition is notable for pairing honeyed florals and powdery notes with smoke and guaiac wood, giving the fragrance a dramatic, wing-like softness beneath the darkness.