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Osmology is the scientific study of smell. When the term was first coined in the 19th century, it was used by scientists to lend credence to the pervasive notion that foul odors signified illness (as if tuberculosis were simply a matter of air freshener). Though its usage declined in favor of the term “olfactory” around the time that germ theory debunked this sanitation scare, the correlation between disease and malodorous scent stuck. To put it bluntly: if you smelled bad, Victorian society assumed you were either ill or catastrophically unwell in spirit. Some prejudices, it seems, are stubbornly fragrant.
Perfumed handkerchiefs—or serviettes, if you will—were essential means of protection against offensive and/or potentially dangerous odors on the go. Serviette merely suggests a graceful return to this tradition, updated for modern sensibilities.
Even with all of our efforts, one cannot escape the monied scent of capitalism. Critical theorist Simon Hadjini posits that capitalism has a smell—and it stinks! He traces how scent becomes shorthand for class: in film and literature, a lone whiff can signal social rank, wealth or its absence, and reinforce hierarchy without a word being spoken. Through this lens, the everyday aroma of power, privilege, or precarity is never innocent—it quietly stamps its mark on who is perceived to belong where.
Alas, there has been a breakthrough! A recent example of how scent manipulates, courtesy of fragrance giant Givaudan: though we have long been aware of the presence of scent receptors that shape our understanding of what we smell, researchers have been unable to elicit a response from these receptors in a lab. Until now. By doing so, they have effectively opened the door for a new level of precision in perfumery. Natural odors—wet earth after rain, a rogue cluster of wildflowers elbowing through the grass—can now be recreated with uncanny fidelity, and new creations can be built based upon the knowledge of how they will be perceived by the nose. There has, in short, never been a better time to be an aromaphile.
But as critical theorist Simon Hajdini reminds us, scent is never just chemistry—it’s also ideology. So which smells count as “upper class” or “lower class”? It’s a thorny question, but a necessary one, and central to Serviette’s ongoing inquiry into how taste is formed. Our very insignia is a commentary on luxury and prestige—though it bears the traditional mark of a heritage brand, it seeks to question those very same foundations with a playful wink, hence Serviette's motto being a subversion of the Latin adage “de gustibus non est disputandum” (“in matters of taste, there can be no disputes”). Because Serviette knows that good taste isn’t about your access to material goods; it’s about the knowledge and preferences you carefully cultivate across time. As always, we encourage you to let your nose, and your personal taste, be your guide.