This Leathery Scent Was Born Between Punk & the Prairie
Vegans beware: Malin + Goetz’s new drop with Brain Dead is a leathery dream. Drawing on the fragrant nostalgia of cofounder Andrew Goetz’s experience buying his first leather jacket from a Greenwich Village thrift shop years ago, the capsule collection infuses the inimitable Leather fragrance Malin + Goetz first released in 2019 with a fresh energy courtesy of Californian street-cool label Brain Dead, who adds a touch of interstellar escapism.
Featuring a perfume oil, candle, and supercandle — Malin + Goetz’s signature three-wick, 80-hour behemoth of ambiance — this new take on an old scent layers in the crackling warmth of wood offset by muted florals for a balanced olfactory experience. Strong-nosed scent enthusiasts will find this Leather collection contains the same familiar notes of cedar and sandalwood, orchids and lotus flowers, and the crunch of pepper and clove infused across all three products.
The Leather collection is an extension of the partnership that began in 2023 with Brain Dead’s take on the Cannabis candle, this time leaning into the artistic inclinations of underground comics with an additional yee-haw swagger, with a sketch of a cowboy wrangling a horse wrapping around the packaging.
The collaborative release also offers a bit of that spacey headiness that comes from huffing fresh hide — a tradition that goes back to the OG leatherhead, King George III, who was so down bad for a pair of leather-scented gloves gifted by James Henry Creed that he had him turn it into a fragrance.
A time-tested favorite Malin + Goetz scent wrapped in a slick new Brain Dead skin that pays respect to leather’s punk and prairie roots? We just know that the Fragrantica user whose Malin + Goetz Leather review said, “if you're out there looking for a bad boy motorcycle riding cowboy, don't bother. just buy this perfume instead and fulfill that dream yourself,” is about to go absolutely crazy for this one.
