Fragrance house

Zoologist

Founded by Victor Wong in Toronto in 2013, Zoologist Perfumes began as a hobby before becoming a business. Its first animal-themed fragrances—Beaver, Panda, and Rhinoceros—were announced in 2014. The brand develops fragrance concepts from animals, their habitats, behaviours, appearances, and surrounding environments rather than attempting to reproduce an animal’s literal smell. As creative director, Wong matches animal briefs with individual perfumers’ styles and publicly credits their work. Bat, created by Ellen Covey, won the Independent Category of the 2016 Art and Olfaction Awards and became an important fragrance in Zoologist’s documented history. The original Bat was discontinued on June 22, 2019, and the fragrance was redesigned in 2020 after the business relationship with its original compound supplier ended. Zoologist’s products do not use natural animal-derived musks; synthetic alternatives are used for ethical reasons.