Unbeknownst to many, Chicago is a vibrant hub for independent fragrance brands. Enter our new blog series, Windy City Scents: Exploring Chicago’s Indie Fragrance Brands. We reached out to our favorite Chicago-based fragrance brands to uncover their origins and connection to Chicago. The first installment features Laura Oberwetter, Perfumer and Co-founder of Clue Perfumery.
For those unfamiliar with Clue Perfumery: how? Chicago founded, owned, and operated, Clue Perfumery has quickly enraptured niche perfume lovers around the country with their complex and surreal scents. At the moment, their collection boasts 5 unique fragrances all available at Merz Apothecary and Smallflower.com: Morel Map, With the Candlestick, Warm Bulb, The Point, and Dandelion Butter.
Q: Can you introduce yourself and explain your fragrance brand to anyone who might be unfamiliar?
A: I’m Laura and I am the Perfumer of Clue Perfumery. Clue was founded in 2023 by myself and designer Caleb Vanden Boom. Our scents are surreal expressions of unexpected vignettes.
Q: What’s your fragrance origin story? Do you have any memories attached to a specific scent that made you fall in love with fragrance and think about fragrance differently?
A: I was extremely captivated by functionally scented hygiene products as a child – Ban Fresh Cotton Antiperspirant, Pink Fresh & Clean Body Lotion, Pantene Pro-V Shampoo. I didn’t know that the fragrance industry existed or that I could be a part of it one day; I just knew that I wanted to hang out at Target and smell everything on the shelf.
Q: How did the idea for your brand start? When did you know you wanted to make a career out of it?
A: I began experimenting with making perfume in my apartment in 2020. I initially had the goal of creating scents that truthfully captured a landscape – fragrances that accurately smelled like an old church or a forest floor. This worked surprisingly well, so I began sliding samples of my trials under my friend Caleb’s gate during COVID. Caleb is a designer and offered to work with me to turn these conceptual experiments into a brand.
Q: We’re proud to be one of very few niche fragrance retailers in the city. Tell us about your relationship to Chicago. How has the city of Chicago and the surrounding area influenced your fragrances?
Caleb and I grew up together in a suburb of Madison, Wisconsin and are greatly inspired by the midwest.
Q: Do you have a favorite Chicago scent? A certain food, place, etc.?
A: I miss the smell of the chocolate cloud that used to flood the West Loop in the afternoon from the Blommer Chocolate Factory, which closed a few years ago. I smelled it for the first time when I was still warming up to the city after moving from Madison. It was one of the first things to really endear me to Chicago – the overwhelming scent of chocolate in this huge city was just so comically idyllic and surprising.
Q: What notes would you say evoke the energy of Chicago?
A: Wormwood, Burnt Rubber, Lemonade, Domestic Beer
Q: What has been the most unexpected challenge you’ve faced running an independent fragrance brand?
A: Shipping is a huge pain since perfume has such a high alcohol content and is flammable.
Q: If you could go back in time to when you first started out, what advice would you give yourself? Would you change anything?
A: I wouldn’t change anything. Clue is shaped by the unconventional choices we made when we didn’t know any better.
Q: What do you think makes your brand different from other fragrance brands?
A: I think we tend to be interested in the mundane more than most brands.
Q: Is there a certain feeling or emotion you hope your fragrances evoke?
A: Delight!
Q: Why do you think fragrance makes such a great tool for self expression?
A: Fragrance intuitively conveys so much, so quickly. It’s totally subjective, deeply personal, and extremely effective at transforming the tone of your surrounding space.
Q: What’s a fragrance trend or note that you’re excited about right now?
A: I’ve been thinking a lot about roses.
Q: What do you think people should know about the niche fragrance community in the midwest?
A: This is probably so unsurprising, but everyone is extremely nice.
Q: What's next for your brand?
A: Our newest scent, Dandelion Butter, comes out on June 14th.
The complete Clue Perfumery line is available now at Merz Apothecary in Chicago, Illinois at online at Smallflower.com.
