Laurice Rahmé on the House of Bond No. 9, the Tuxedo Park Launch, and What It Actually Takes to Build the Dream
There is a particular kind of dream that belongs to women who arrive in New York from somewhere else.
It comes early — through films, through magazines, through a single photograph of a yellow cab in the rain — and it never fully leaves. Most people file it away. A few build a life around it. Laurice Rahmé built an entire house around it — and then dedicated that house, bottle by bottle, neighborhood by neighborhood, to the city itself.
Laurice Rahmé is that dreamer’s origin story taken to its furthest conclusion. Born and educated in Paris, she began her working life as an antiques dealer and studied art at the Louvre before crossing into the beauty industry — first at Lancôme, where she spent years as International Training Director, and later helping bring the French house Annick Goutal into the American market. She had, by any measure, already built a career. Then, in 2003, she did the thing almost no one in the industry does: she founded her own house, independently, no conglomerate and no committee behind her, and dedicated it entirely to New York — a fragrance for nearly every neighborhood the city has.
That house is Bond No. 9, and Tuxedo Park — the newest launch, and the reason for this conversation — is only the latest chapter. But the fragrance, it turns out, is only half the story. The other half is the woman who has spent more than two decades proving that a perfume house can be opulent, independent, and unapologetically itself in an industry that increasingly rewards neither opulence nor independence.
What follows is Laurice in her own words — on the launch, on the house she built from nothing, on the standards she has never lowered, and on what nobody tells you about the price of admission.
I. The Dream, Before the Dream Had a Name
Q: Let’s start at the beginning — not the New York beginning, the real beginning. Where does this story start?
It really begins in Paris. I studied art history, spent time at the Louvre, and worked with one of France’s leading antiques dealers. I was surrounded every day by beautiful objects, pieces that carried history, craftsmanship, and emotion. That taught me that true luxury isn’t about excess; it’s about authenticity and artistry.
Later I entered the beauty industry with Lancôme, where I traveled the world, and eventually came to America with Annick Goutal to introduce her fragrance house. Working with Annick reinforced something I still believe today: perfume is not simply a product, it is an emotional experience, an art form capable of telling stories without words. That philosophy has stayed with me throughout my entire career.
Q: So many people have big dreams. Very few get on the plane. What was different for you?
I’ve always believed that creativity requires courage. I’ve never been afraid of change or of taking risks if I believe deeply in an idea.
New York represented something that Paris could not, it was freedom. It was possibility. It was a city where you could constantly reinvent yourself. When I arrived here more than thirty years ago, I knew I had found my place. I followed my passion rather than a rigid plan, and that has guided every important decision I’ve made.
II. Founding Bond No. 9 — Or Being Found By New York
Q: You had already had an extraordinary career — Lancôme, bringing French perfumery to America. What made you walk away from all of that and start your own house?
I wanted complete creative freedom.
Working with great brands taught me discipline and excellence, but eventually I realized there was a story that only I could tell. I wasn’t interested in creating another fragrance brand. I wanted to create something the industry had never seen before.
Bond No. 9 became that vision, a house dedicated entirely to New York City, where every fragrance would celebrate a place, an emotion, and a neighborhood. It wasn’t a marketing concept. It came from genuine love for the city.
Q: The founding story is inseparable from the city itself — you created Bond No. 9 as New York was rebuilding after 9/11. Tell us about that decision. Why then, and why a scent for every neighborhood?
September 11 changed New York forever.
After the devastation, I wanted to make New York smell good again. It was my way of celebrating the city’s courage, resilience, creativity, and extraordinary spirit. Instead of focusing on tragedy, I wanted to celebrate hope.
That became the foundation of Bond No. 9.
We created an entirely new fragrance category, The Scent of a Place. Every neighborhood has its own personality, energy, architecture, rhythm, and even its own fragrance. My goal has always been to translate those emotions into perfume.
III. Tuxedo Park: A Legend in the Making
Q: Let’s talk about the launch. Tuxedo Park. For readers who don’t know the reference — set the scene.
Tuxedo Park is one of New York State’s great hidden treasures. It is elegant, historic, and incredibly refined. It has an almost cinematic quality, a place where timeless sophistication meets natural beauty.
When I thought about translating it into fragrance, I wasn’t trying to recreate the landscape literally. I wanted to capture its atmosphere, its quiet confidence, its heritage, and its understated luxury.
Q: Describe the fragrance itself. What are we smelling?
Tuxedo Park is both refined and unexpected.
Like every Bond No. 9 fragrance, it unfolds over time. It begins with an inviting brightness before revealing a rich, elegant heart and a lingering base that feels warm, sophisticated, and memorable.
I never want someone to think about individual notes first. I want them to fall in love with the fragrance itself. The emotion always comes before the ingredients.
Q: You oversee everything — the juice, the bottle, the launch. What was creating Tuxedo Park like from your seat?
Every fragrance begins the same way.
I bring the vision, the place, the emotion, the color, sometimes even a season, to our perfumers. From there it becomes a dialogue built on trust and shared creativity.
Creating a fragrance is very much like a love story. It takes patience, conversation, and the desire to create something truly special. At the same time, I oversee every aspect, from the fragrance itself to the bottle design and the presentation, because every detail should tell one complete story.
IV. Why Bond No. 9 Became Great
Q: You built this house from nothing. From where you stand — why did it succeed where so many niche brands stay small?
First: a real idea. Not a marketing idea —a real one.
First, because it began with an authentic idea.
We weren’t following trends or creating fragrances because a category happened to be popular. We created something entirely new: fragrances inspired by neighborhoods, by culture, and by New York itself.
Second: never lowering the bar. You built this independently — no conglomerate, no committee, no focus groups. One vision, from the juice to the glass to the boutique.
Second, because we’ve never compromised on quality. Every fragrance uses exceptionally high concentrations of perfume oils, works with remarkable French perfumers, and reflects true craftsmanship. Luxury should be felt in every aspect, from the scent to the bottle to the experience.
Third — and this is the part people underestimate: the refusal to apologize. Bond No. 9 is opulent. The bottles are jewelry. The fragrances are statements. In an era where everything became minimal and beige and afraid, this house stayed baroque and confident and New York. People are drawn to conviction. They can smell it — pun intended — the same way they can smell doubt.
Bond No. 9 has always celebrated boldness. New York is not quiet, and neither are we. Our bottles are joyful, artistic, colorful, and collectible because New York deserves to be celebrated with confidence. I’ve never believed luxury should apologize for being luxurious.
V. What the Dream Costs — And What It Pays
Q: Here’s the question I most wanted to ask you. Thousands of women are reading this and dreaming of building exactly what you built. You lived it. So tell them the truth: what does it actually take?
The truth. It takes passion first.
It takes resilience, because there will always be obstacles, competition, and moments of disappointment.
Most importantly, it takes creativity. Early in my career someone at L’Oréal gave me advice that has stayed with me forever: “Always focus on creativity. All the rest will follow.”
I still believe that.
If you truly love what you create and remain authentic to your vision, people recognize that authenticity.
Q: So what does excellence mean to you now — versus what you thought it meant when you started?
When I was younger, I thought excellence meant perfection.
Today I believe excellence means never losing curiosity. It means continuing to create, continuing to surprise yourself, and continuing to delight your customer.
Every fragrance teaches me something new.
I still feel most at home sitting at my creation table, testing lab samples and imagining the next neighborhood, the next story, the next dream.
Q: Last question. The girl in Paris, among the antiques and the perfume bottles. If she could see you now — sitting in the flagship, fresh off this launch — what would you tell her?
I would tell her to trust her intuition.
Don’t be afraid to be different.
Follow your passion, even if the destination isn’t exactly the one you imagined.
When I left Paris, I never imagined I would spend my life celebrating New York through fragrance. But looking back, every step, from antiques to art history to beauty to perfume, prepared me for Bond No. 9.
Sometimes the dream you arrive at is even more beautiful than the one you started with.
Tuxedo Park by Bond No. 9 is available at Bond No. 9 boutiques in New York and Miami, Saks Fifth Avenue, select Bloomingdale’s, Harrods and Selfridges in the UK, and bondno9.com — $470 for 100 mL.
