In episode forty five of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts sits down, remotely, with the founders of D.S. & Durga, Kavi Ahuja and David Seth Moltz.

Working in beauty affords me the great privilege of trialling brands, both local and international, as they become available in Australia. Often a product lands on my desk that piques my interest beyond my already vested interest in beauty, and as I start to research the names behind it, it becomes apparent that this particular brand is quietly redefining the category in which it sits.

One such brand is D.S. & Durga, a fragrance house I first came into contact with in 2017 upon its launch into Australia. Founded in Brooklyn by husband and wife David Seth Moltz and Kavi Ahuja, D.S. & Durga came to be in 2007 when David, the brand’s now-perfumer, began developing fragrances for friends and family and Kavi, an artist, designer and architect by trade, suggested they turn their creations into a business. 

What D.S. & Durga are doing is so different to other fragrances houses, and I’m so grateful that I was able to listen to them explain the freedom that comes with being a niche brand who can create whatever they want to create, and how they balance that with quite an intuitive understanding of what is commercially palatable.

Being based in Brooklyn, D.S. & Durga is a self-described “quintessentially American” fragrance house in a market historically dominated by French sensibilities- not that there is a single thing wrong with that, however the perfume industry is saturated with brands intent on including French ingredients in their fragrances or French elements in their branding, even if that alignment isn’t necessarily authentic. As Kavi told me in our conversation, “Everything behind a brand matters so much more now than it ever has,” which presents a really powerful opportunity for niche brands to become their own storytellers as consumers want to know precisely who and what they’re aligning themselves with.

This episode was recorded remotely, myself in Australia and Kavi and David in the US, so if you would prefer to read the interview you can find the complete transcript on glowjournal.com.

In this conversation, Kavi and David discuss the malleability of creative disciplines, the art of collaboration and the significance of the scents of both burnt tyres and boat gas. 

You can read this interview now at: glowjournal.com/interview-ds-durga-founders-kavi-ahuja-david-moltz

Follow D.S. & Durga on Instagram at @dsanddurga

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected]

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