Anat Fritz – aromatic and woody and original

Photo: perfumeniche

I’ve been infatuated with Anat Fritz eau de toilette for years.

Never heard of Anat Fritz or her eponymous fragrance? Allow me to introduce you to both.

Anat Fritz is an artist and product creator who started out as a Berlin-based knitwear designer specializing in accessories like hats, scarves, and bags made from wool, fur, and leather. Self-taught, her high-quality creations revealed a keen understanding of harmony and proportion in design and were always in high demand.

When she decided to create a fragrance, she turned to German-born maverick niche perfumer Geza Schön. In 2006, their first fragrance, Anat Fritz, was launched. Presented in a knit cover instead of a box, it quickly became a cult favourite. This version of the fragrance is the one I own. Now discontinued, it was reworked in 2013 and named ‘Classical.’

Of course, I love the smell of it, but what drew me to seek it out was that just five ingredients are used to highlight three notes: lavender, cedar and vetiver, creating one of the most captivating, minimalist scents you’ll ever experience.

Anat Fritz opens with a gust of aromatic lavender. It’s herbaceous, camphourous and heady and gives the opening freshness and brightness. The camphourous aspect of lavender links to the camphourous aspect of cedar, that’s sharp, dry, deep and woody. A note of vetiver, earthy, grassy and woody joins the lavender and the cedar, creating an exciting love triangle where these three notes interact and intermingle throughout the fragrance's development, which is rather linear. Patchouli at the base is earthy and woody, and it dirties up the mix, while sandalwood deepens the woodiness and adds rich warmth.

The drydown is earthy, aromatic, potent and original, and while it can lean into masculine territory, it was designed to be unisex.

These days, Anat Fritz lives in Miami Beach, Florida where she runs Anat Fritz Design Studio. In an interview with Olfacvtif, she says that ‘perfume is my little hobby, my little secret love.’ It’s mine, too, since I discovered fragrances like Anat Fritz.

Check out Anat Fritz in our Shop.