Black and white photo of a man in a white shirt holding a pair of nail files, looking at them with a contemplative expression.

Trung Vu

I am a self-taught perfumer with a decade spent working in luxury retail and cosmetics. Before that I was a dancer trained in classical, jazz and contemporary technique, then a makeup artist, living fully in the world of art through movement and transformation. Perfume became another medium: invisible, intimate and deeply expressive. Creating fragrance is a careful practice shaped by years of dedication. Like the contemporary arts, it is rooted in classical theory, shaped by instinct, calculation, memory, structure and imagination, and above all guided by a sense of freedom.

My love of perfume lies in the golden era, from the 1920s through to the late 90s. It was a time of bold ideas, unapologetic character, and scent unburdened by trend. These are the perfumes that shaped me. Works that didn’t ask for permission, didn’t need to declare gender, and didn’t play it safe.

GRIMOIRE is my world, built entirely by hand. Every formula, every label, every note and object has passed through my fingers. I'm not here to reinvent perfume. I simply want to make perfume that smells good. Perfume that might challenge rather than charm, but asks to be met on its own terms.

My work is guided by intuition and by story. I’ve always been drawn to the cryptic and the arcane. The macabre, mythology, ritual, dark fantasy, and psychological tension. These influences shape everything I make, sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes just in tone.

GRIMOIRE is not a concept, it is an expression and a quiet resistance. It’s a personal relief for my nostalgia.