Dilo Elsewhere Collection Body Wash Bar 140g

Dilo is a Philadelphia-based fragrance and design studio founded by David DiLorenzo in 2017. What began as a small product-design and candle-making venture has grown into a broader world of scent, encompassing candles, incense, room sprays, reed diffusers, hand care, and perfume From the beginning, DiLorenzo’s approach has been rooted in the idea that fragrance can transform ordinary moments and spaces into something more atmospheric and memorable.

The brand remains deeply connected to its Philadelphia roots. Dilo’s products are designed, blended, and made by hand at its studios in the city, with the company emphasising local production and a hands-on approach. Its current facility is in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighbourhood, where the brand operates both its studio and retail presence. Dilo describes its philosophy simply: “Made by hand. By Philly locals. With USA materials.” The emphasis on local craftsmanship distinguishes the brand from many contemporary fragrance houses whose production is spread across multiple countries.

Dilo’s creative language began with home fragrance, and that origin remains important to the perfumes. The brand’s fragrances are conceived as extensions of its candle collection, but with greater depth and complexity for wearing on skin. The Elsewhere collection, translates four of Dilo’s established scents — Palo Santo, Cactus Flower, Desert Kush, and Hinoki Sesame — into perfume. Each composition is built around an evocative central idea rather than a conventional perfume pyramid: Palo Santo combines violet, peppercorn and iris with cardamom, rose and geranium before settling into palo santo, sandalwood and amber; Hinoki Sesame brings together citrus, sea salt, incense smoke, sesame, sandalwood and Japanese hinoki.

There is a distinctly American sensibility to Dilo’s approach to perfumery. Instead of leaning heavily on traditional European fragrance conventions, the brand draws inspiration from materials, places, memories, and everyday rituals. Its fragrances can feel simultaneously familiar and unexpected: woods are softened by florals, smoke is placed alongside citrus, and traditionally culinary or atmospheric references such as sesame, cannabis, incense, and palo santo become part of the olfactory vocabulary. The result is fragrance that feels grounded and tactile rather than overly formal.

Sustainability and responsible production are also central to the brand’s identity. Dilo states that its candles are made with 100% USA-grown soy wax, are phthalate-free, and use cotton wicks without lead cores. More broadly, the company positions its products as carefully made with an emphasis on clean ingredients and domestic production. Its personal fragrances are packaged in clear glass vessels with fine-mist sprayers, while the brand continues to manufacture its products in Philadelphia rather than outsourcing the finished goods overseas.

Today, Dilo remains an independent Philadelphia company with a deliberately local identity, while its fragrances have begun reaching a much wider audience through independent retailers in the United States and internationally. What makes the house particularly interesting is the continuity between its beginnings and where it is now: the same instinct that led DiLorenzo to create a candle capable of changing the feeling of a room has evolved into a collection of perfumes designed to become part of the wearer’s own environment. Dilo’s world is ultimately about atmosphere; creating scents that feel lived-in, evocative, and quietly transportive, with Philadelphia craftsmanship at the heart of it all.