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Fragrance Reimagined: How China’s Local Perfume Brands Bring Culture and Unique Scents to the Global Stage

Perfume has stopped being about others, and started being about self for young Chinese consumers
by
September 26, 2025

For a long time, perfume in China was less about fragrance and more about code. A Dior, Chanel, Maison Margiela bottle on the vanity was shorthand for cosmopolitan belonging—a global stamp of approval.

International giants still dominate the market—they account for approximately 70% of China’s perfume sales, and the country’s perfume industry hit $3.05 billion USD in 2023, with forecasts projecting over $4.66 billion USD by 2030.
Yet cracks are appearing: some stalwarts like Jo Malone and Tom Ford have slowed on key platforms, while niche and salon fragrances are growing explosively.

Shanghai’s scent revolution is happening offline and online

Walk through Shanghai today, and you’ll notice something different. The perfume conversation is no longer dominated by logos or status symbols—it’s unfolding on Xiaohongshu feeds, at pop-up ateliers in Jing’an, Xuhui district, and in the quiet rituals of young consumers who are less concerned with recognition and more with experience, intimacy, and emotion.

Photo retrieved from redbook users’ public profile

Why local disruptors are rising

Chinese fragrance brands are tapping into cultural elements and natural resources unique to the region: native plants, traditional gardens, and scents long embedded in local rituals.
Historically, perfume in China may have been considered decorative or optional—but today’s young consumers are looking for products that resonate with their personal history, upbringing, and cultural identity. They want fragrances that spark emotional connections, evoke memories, and allow for a highly customized expression of personal identity.
Meanwhile, the new generation of brand founders brings a fresh, diverse perspective. Their teams are more globally aware, multidisciplinary, and experimental, which allows them to craft brand stories, visual presentations, and experiential marketing that feel authentic, engaging, and relevant to young consumers.

Local brands leading the wave

1. To Summer 观夏

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Photo credit to the Archdaily website
Born in Beijing, To Summer is in awe of the city and the culture behind it. The courtyards (Siheyuan) in Beijing are now very precious. They are the souls of Beijing. It took one year to restore this courtyard that was built in the Qing dynasty, and now the spirit of it will live on.
Photo credit to brand’s official website
Since 2018, To Summer has grown from a niche fragrance house into a cultural signifier in China’s cities. Rooted in Oriental aesthetics, fragrance, culture, and art, its boutiques—often hidden in hutongs or heritage villas—have become landmarks of “citywalk” culture. With creations like the Four Seasons Incense, inspired by osmanthus at the Summer Palace or peach blossoms in Xixi, To Summer transforms scent into a bridge between memory, place, and cultural imagination.

2. New Theatre 气剧

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Photo retrieved from brand’s rednote page
New Theatre describes itself with one simple idea: “Life as a scent of play.” Life is composed of countless fragments, and Qiju seeks to capture the most unforgettable ones, reinterpreting them through fragrance.
Each perfume becomes a theatrical act—sometimes rising in emotional crescendo, other times falling into stillness—where emotions collide, and the wearer experiences that fleeting, heightened second of pure feeling.

What makes New Theatre particularly distinctive is its deeply personal approach to naming and storytelling. Every perfume carries an emotional narrative drawn from ordinary yet profound moments—whether fleeting atmospheres, subtle shifts in mood, or shared human experiences. Names like 雨夜探戈 (In the Mood for Love), 行至天光 (Till the Sunrise), 我非观赏物 (Self Portrait), and 名利场诗人（In the Spotlight), allowing wearers to see their own stories reflected in the scent.

3. Document 闻献

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A perfume priced at around $243 could come not only from Chanel or Hermès, but also from a Chinese brand. DOCUMENTS, founded in 2021 in Shanghai, positions itself as a high-end Chinese fragrance house crafting novel, high-concentration perfumes (20–30% oil).

Its identity is rooted in what the founder calls “Zen Cool” — a balance of Zen’s understated sophistication and the contemporary edge of global Gen Z aesthetics. From colors and textures to scent design, DOCUMENTS translates Chinese cultural heritage into modern olfactory experiences, making fragrance both an art form and a lifestyle statement.
In China, fragrance has long surpassed the realm of scent itself—it connects heaven and earth, spirit and faith, while weaving through the histories of economy, trade, medicine, and beyond.
Built on this philosophy of Chinese culture and aesthetics, Document seeks not just to revive tradition, but to construct a contemporary language of scent. Its creations draw from the East’s profound philosophical systems and aesthetic order, reimagined through modern craft to articulate an olfactory expression that resonates both locally and globally.

What’s Next for Chinese scent market

What’s radical is not just that these brands exist, but that they are being chosen instead of traditional maisons. Consumers are paying for emotion, not heritage; cultural intimacy, not Western validation.
China’s perfume awakening is a cultural language​. This shift isn’t about catching up to Paris or Milan. It’s about creating a new grammar of scent—one that blends memory, mood, and meaning.Whether in values and history, or in user experience, product design, and marketing shifts, the evolution of China’s market has outpaced that of Western luxury brands.

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