APFR
APFR is a Japanese fragrance brand founded by Keita Sugasawa in 2011. Influenced by traditional fragrances, herbal medicine culture, natural philosophy, food, music, and art from around the world, APFR creates fragrances and expresses the brand’s world view, incorporating ancient Japanese subtleties and attention to detail into contemporary design.
Keita Sugasawa first became interested in fragrance in 2004 after happening on some unique fragrance offerings around the world whilst travelling with his corporate job.
”There’s a small district in Harlem, New York. There, you can find a collection of Middle Eastern shops, one of which sells incense and oil. In Singapore, I visited a district where an elderly Middle Eastern man sold incense and fragrant woods. He mixed the aromas for you there in the shop. Thinking about it now, he simply blended fragrances together, but at the time I really felt that this was a cultural element you couldn’t find in Japan.”
—Keita Sagasawa, founder
Inspired, Sugasawa tried and failed in making his own candles – the surfaces would deform, the candles would burn out quickly, and the aromas would hardly project at all. However, in 2010 he began working for a large company that sourced natural fragrances from all over the world and sold them to Japanese fragrance companies. He took the opportunity to study the chemistry behind fragrances, and by 2011, he had composed 10 of his own scents in candle form.
There are now 35 unique scents to choose from, all of which are hand-crafted with carefully selected ingredients in a workshop in Chiba, Japan. APFR opened their first retail shop in 2021 in the Shimokitazawa neighborhood of Tokyo – a calm and sophisticated setting in which to experience the full world view of the brand through fragrances and tastefully designed products. Their goal is to create a collection of fragrances that enhance everyday life, emotions, and memories.
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