Inside the world of Imaginary Authors
How a Portland-based perfume house turns unforgettable scents into memorable stories.
Here’s the thing about most perfumers I’ve met, they tend to be the kind of creative, curious, slightly unconventional people I connect with instantly. They're artists at heart, which is probably why I could’ve spent hours talking to Josh Meyer and Ashod Simonian of Imaginary Authors.
Imaginary Authors launched in 2012, born from founder Josh Meyer’s deep curiosity and love for perfume. As the nose behind the brand, Meyer creates the scents, while creative director Ashod Simonian shapes the visual and narrative world around them. Together, they’ve built a fragrance house known for its originality. Each perfume offering an immersive, thoughtfully designed entry point into a fictional universe.
I’ve been a fan of Imaginary Authors for a long time, so getting to meet Josh and Ashod (via zoom) and talk perfume was such a treat. The brand has a great range that includes easy-to-love scents for people just getting into fragrance, and deeper cuts for the scent nerds who like things a little weirder. I recommend them often. Their discovery sets are a delight, and the whole experience from the packaging, to the storytelling, and design, is immersive without ever feeling pretentious. It’s distinctly Pacific Northwest in that way—friendly, thoughtful, a little offbeat, and grounded in creativity. Josh and Ashod really embody the spirit of the brand, and I’m happy to say meeting them only made me love Imaginary Authors more.
If you’re curious about what’s new from Imaginary Authors, they just released a Sundrunk candle, a beautiful citrus-full neroli, perfect for summer. How to Say Bicycle in French is another recent launch, it’s a fresh aromatic that wakes up my brain every time I smell it. And if you don’t know where to start, my all-time favorite is Slow Explosions, a smoky floral with a name that couldn’t be more perfect. I also love Fox in the Flowerbed (a white floral dream), Yesterday Haze (for the fig fans), and In Love with Everything, a fun fruity scent that brings back the very specific nostalgia of being a teen hanging out at the mall for me.
Read on to get the story of their name, hear the inspiration for their latest release, and be charmed by their sweet working relationship.
The story behind the name Imaginary Authors
Christina: Tell me about the origin story and how you two came together.
Josh: I had a job that I didn’t love and was deeply into perfume at the time — this was like 2010, 2011. There weren’t a lot of folks doing this, and I really saw this window where it wasn’t about having a singular scent. It was about the experience of trying lots and lots of different things. And so I thought I could try it. I thought it would be a fun way to spend a life — not answering my phone and sitting and blending materials. It’s still my favorite thing to do.
I started with a brand idea that I thought was cool, but it didn’t work. I called Ashod and he came over, looked at what I’d done, and said, “This doesn’t work.” My memory — I think it’s a little different than Ashod’s.
I thought it would be a fun way to spend a life — not answering my phone and sitting and blending materials. It’s still my favorite thing to do.
Ashod: I remember you telling a lot of stories and introducing these perfumes. I come from a completely different place, and when I’m on calls with people like you, Christina, I have such imposter syndrome. I’m not a fragrance nerd and I don’t know how to talk about it. Over the years I’ve gotten better at realizing one of my strengths is not being an expert at things.
I played in bands previously and I was never the great guitar player in the band, but I brought something special to it because I had to make up for the stuff I didn’t know. I feel a little bit the same here. I get to bring some weird, crazy ideas because I’m not looking at all the other brands and I’m not influenced by the same things people in the perfume world are influenced by. And that’s part of the beauty of the partnership, I think.
I remember Josh telling me these different stories and I left thinking — there was one in particular — “Oh that’s kind of like The Great Gatsby,” the way that he described the fragrance. He just has such a good way of painting a picture and building a world around the fragrances. There were classic vintage scents and it was tennis courts and Ivy League schools and seersucker suits. Right at this time The Great Gatsby had just come into the public domain and I was like, “Oh that’s cool. We could actually use The Great Gatsby.”
But pretty quickly — because I’m a creative — I was like, “I can’t use somebody else’s hard work and try to pass it off as my own.” That just felt really icky to me. And I thought, “If it was an imaginary author, then we could write the stories — and that might be a little bit more fun.” The name just had a little ring to it. I liked the name Imaginary Author.
And so I remember going back to Josh at a later date and saying, “OK here’s the deal. Here’s what we’re gonna do.”
Josh: You know what — I think we’re both right, because I think that convo was when I had you over for dinner. You came over and I showed you some of the perfumes I was working on — but this was before I had put together any brand stuff. And then when I called you over again, I was showing you all the ones I thought were near the finish line. And that’s when you were like, “Imaginary Authors is interesting.”
Ashod: I had this idea — it all kind of unfolded really quickly — where I was like, “Oh, we could do boxes that are shaped like books and we could have bookmarks that go to retail so people could spray it on a bookmark and then put it in their purse and take it home with them.” And it just came to life in a way, that’s what you want from a good brand idea, you know?
The Early Days
Ashod: I remember Josh giving me this perfume to try. He wanted me to do some packaging work for him and I was like, “I’m too busy, buddy. I’d love to help you, but this is a lot of work and I would charge somebody a lot of money, and I would feel bad charging you that much.”
And he’s like, “OK that’s fine. I appreciate it. Thanks for being honest with me. I would still love for you to wear this perfume. You don’t wear perfume and you seem like somebody who would. You dress well, you like good food, good cocktails, and you’ve got great taste and style. Why don’t you wear perfume?”
He’s like, “I think you just haven’t had a great experience with it and I would love for you to wear this and tell me what your experience is.”
It was Bull’s Blood. It was the first I ever wore — and I didn’t have a point of reference to know. At that time I was just like, “OK I guess this is what perfume smells like — what Josh’s perfume smells like.”
Josh: It was an early, early… pre-pre. I mean, 15 years ago. Literally. We started in 2012, so this was like a year before that. The very first batch of Bull’s Blood that I made — which was the very first perfume that I did a big concentrate of — was like hundreds of dollars, which at the time was so much money. And I had these vats that were fruit punch bowls, you know? With a little spigot. I made the blend and then the next morning the spigot plastic broke and it just… it was concentrate. This was in the basement of my house. And that rug… I don’t know. I think it took a few months to throw it away.
The inspiration for How to Say Bicycle in French
Christina: I want to know the story behind the new one, How to Say Bicycle in French, but I also want to hear about Slow Explosions, because I think that’s my favorite.
Josh: Slow Explosions is my favorite too.
Ashod: I felt a little funny being an American perfume brand releasing a perfume inspired by France, and I wanted to acknowledge that in a way that was cheeky but also legit. Like, we’re not trying to make a French perfume. Josh spent his honeymoon in Provence and loves that part of the world, and I’ve toured through there with bands. It’s special. So we have this connection to it, but it’s very much as outsiders.
To me, that’s what this perfume is as well. It’s a different take. It doesn’t smell like some of those classic French perfumes. So I just wanted to acknowledge that in the name somehow. And when we were telling the stories, we’re often batting memories back and forth to see if we’re on the right track. At some point, in our minds, some well-dressed man rode by on a bicycle, and I was like, “That’s the vibe.”
Whenever you’re in France, you always see that one old man who’s dressed so well—makes me feel so much lesser than. That was who I had in my mind for this fragrance. The name just kind of came from combining those two things.
Christina: I love that. Tell me about the juice, Josh.
Josh: I’m trying to decide how nerdy we want to get here. This one was based on dihydromyrcenol. It’s neon lavender, and it was really prevalent in the '90s.
Smelling it early on made me think, “Okay, steer clear of this material.” But something happened recently where I smelled it again and thought, “I have to do it. I have to make a perfume with this as the starring role.” But make it so it doesn’t smell like the perfumes I grew up hating.
Pretty quickly I started thinking of dihydromyrcenol as neon lavender, not a cleaning product. That led me to pair it with basil—a really great basil essential oil I had that actually worked. Which is rare with herbs. So it was a fun and unique combination.
It also has some sweetness, so there's this sweet-bitter concept. Early mods had a kind of Campari-like vibe—bitter, but also sweet. That duality really worked. And dihydromyrcenol has all these tart, apple-y notes on its own. There’s no apple material in the fragrance, but it comes across anyway. It has this leathery base too. So I just built the whole thing around that and tried to capture the magic of that one material.
Christina: How long did it take to get it right?
Josh: That’s a great question. I think maybe 20 or 30 mods, but for this one, it was less about taking two steps back and more about just finding the zone. A lot of times, once you get to a place where it feels like it’s working, it becomes a battle to bring it all together. But this one sort of worked in a lot of ways right out of the gate.
A True Partnership
Christina: When you’re working, how much of that process do you guys do together?
Josh: I don’t share the perfumes with almost anyone. But I love sharing them with Ashod because he’s not my friend about it—he’s honest. He’ll say, “This is sort of gray,” and I’ll go, “What?” And he’ll say, “Well, this could be more maroon,” and I’m like, “Yeah... yeah.” It’s great.
And he always says, “I don’t think you can trust me—I don’t know, I don’t have a good nose.” But I’m like, “Everyone has a nose. You’re smelling it.”
Ashod: But I also love Josh’s artistry so much. I feel weird coming in with feedback, but I’ve learned that, for me, that’s an act of love to say, “Let’s keep working on this and see where it can go.” If I’m wrong and it goes off the rails, we can always come back to what we had. But I’m the kind of creative who likes to really chip away at things.
It’s about pressure testing something. Does it hold up? Will people love it?
Even if it’s not for me. I’m also a big fan of things that offend people. A great thing can sometimes speak just to a certain few. This one didn’t totally speak to me. I didn’t love it as much as I’ve loved some of the others. But to me, that’s not a reason not to make it. That can be a good sign.
I’m also a big fan of things that offend people. A great thing can sometimes speak just to a certain few. This one didn’t totally speak to me. I didn’t love it as much as I’ve loved some of the others.
Christina: Is there a scent memory or idea you’ve been trying to recreate but haven’t quite captured yet?
Josh: I get them all the time! It's a really fun place to live, and they can come in a few different modalities. Remembering being a kid going to the beach and the excitement of that walk to the beach with jasmine and orange flowers in bloom. Or thinking about a trip to Rome that my Dad wants me to join him on and not just the lifestyle but the history and feeling that you want to have when you've landed, are on no sleep, throw on a reasonable outfit for your first meal, get a your first glass of wine and hit the city full of wanderlust. There is no end to experiencing life and it's been a really deep well that I love to explore putting fragrance into life in what I hope are new and precious ways.
Christina: What do you hope people feel or experience when they discover and wear your fragrances?
Josh: Nothing short of magic! Not every perfume is going to hit, but the ones that do really get close to being more than the sum of their parts and transporting you. There is something beyond words that fragrance can do to you and it's a sincere honor to be able to try and find that fifth dimension. And, we don't take it lightly that people trust us enough to try our special creations.
Some Favorites
Christina: I want to hear about Slow Explosions. And I also want to know—it’s like the worst question—but if you could only wear one Imaginary Authors scent, which one would it be?
Josh: Definitely Slow Explosions. I think it’s my favorite. I like Cape Heartache too, but I love that you specified something you actually want to wear and smell. That’s the one I could wear and smell all the time. It’s so fun.
Ashod: Josh stole my answer! But I was wearing Cape Heartache when I met my wife, and it kind of became our fragrance from that era. She’s a style editor—very fashionable—and she hates perfume. I get in trouble all the time for coming home smelling like perfume. But for some reason, that’s the one she always loves. So I still wear it quite often.
Ashod: Recently I saw this girl at a rock show. She ran outside, sprayed herself with perfume, and ran back in. And I thought, “What a classy move—not spraying indoors.” I didn’t even know her, but I loved her already.
A few days later, I randomly ended up meeting her. I was like, “I need to know what perfume you were wearing.” And she went on and on—it was this little brand called Imaginary Authors. She told me all about it.
I just sat there and listened to her tell me about... me. It was so gratifying.
Christina: Did you tell her?
Ashod: I did. She plays in a band called The Shins, and I’m friends with them—they actually opened up for my band on their very first tour. So it was this really sweet full-circle moment. The drummer is a big fan of Imaginary Authors, and as we were talking, it turned out that everyone in The Shins wears a specific Imaginary Authors fragrance.
And now for this new band she’s in, she wanted a different fragrance—so she wears O, Unknown! when she’s in this band. But when she’s with The Shins, she wears Saint Julep.
Christina: OK, tell me about Slow Explosions—I want to hear the inspiration.
Josh: It’s really fun to talk about. The inspiration was the saffron CO₂ extract from white lotus. On its own, it’s the greatest material—it’s so good. I just tried to make a perfume that replicated that experience.
It’s got this really jammy, rosy, thick, viscous vibe. Saffron has these tart apple notes to it—it’s not from an actual apple material, that’s just what the saffron gives you. It’s leathery at the base, sweet and bitter at the same time. It’s magic.
The challenge was to take all of that and build a perfume around it. I don’t think this use of saffron has been done quite like this before.
Christina: And then where did the story come from?
Josh: This was a while ago now, but as I remember it, we had this big book of name ideas, like a hundred names. Ashod would keep sending me lists, 20 at a time. And Slow Explosions was one of those names.
It just stood out. It’s such a great perfume name. When the name, the label, the color—when it all comes together, it’s really fun.
Ashod: There were a bunch of different versions of that label. The scent has such a specific saffron brightness, and I wanted to get that feeling across without making the label literally red.
When we landed on the firework imagery, it gave the sense of that slow-building boom, tying back into the name. It felt right.
At one point I was using vintage firework packaging as inspiration—elephants, dragons, all these cool designs from India and Japan. But it just wasn’t working. So we ended up with something else, and we knew when we saw it—that was it.
What’s next?
Josh: This fall we'll be releasing a beautiful autumnal perfume based off a fragrance we've released before and we have an amazing candle collab lined up with a beloved culinary publication. We're still working out details around a potential holiday release and can't wait for April to roll around so we can continue our custom of making something fun and unexpected for April Fool's Day.
Great interview! Love to see behind the curtain.
This is a really cool and interesting story! Thanks, Xtina.