Lev and Alina are best known for building Fresh into a cult beauty brand now part of LVMH. For the past decade, they’ve been channeling their passion into a new endeavor: a boutique hotel that expands into a lifestyle brand. Nestled in the Hudson Valley, with its vibrant arts scene and the Catskill Mountains as a backdrop, The Maker opened in 2020 with 11 intimate rooms across 3 historic buildings, and its very own fragrance and candle collection. It’s all meticulously designed to spark your deepest sensuality.
In this episode, Lev and Alina sit down at The Maker Lounge with Benny Campa, who runs product design at Scentbird. They share why they believe everyone is a maker, what it takes to ignite that part of you, and the James Bond-inspired scent that might help.
• How a fragrance shopping trip with his mother changed Lev’s life
• The story behind The Maker Hotel in Hudson, NY
• Entering another world: a brief tour of The Maker Hotel
• The Italy trip that planted the seed for Lev and Alina’s vision
• Bohemian sensibility, color tones, furnishings, and various personal touches
• The converted horse carriage that became The Maker Lounge
• Why lighting is the jewelry of any room
• The fragrance Lev created for Alina 30+ years ago
• Crafting a feast for the senses through a fusion of art, design, and fragrance
• Why nothing but an olfactory sensation makes you feel like coming home
• Lev’s process for developing The Maker’s scent collection
• The rooms that celebrate makers: The Artist, The Architect, The Gardener, and The Writer
• An overview of The Maker scent collection
• Why you are the ultimate maker of a fragrance
• Scent Spotlight: Libertine, Stag, Naked, Fire, Spiritus, Gardener, and Artist
• The winner of the Fragrance Foundation’s Indie Fragrance of the Year Award
• What does love affair smell like?
• The antique that inspired The Maker’s fragrance bottles
• The scent that’s infused throughout The Maker’s public spaces
• Lev and Alina describe each other in terms of scents
Libertine by The Maker
Stag by The Maker
Naked by The Maker
Fire by The Maker
Spiritus by The Maker
Gardener by The Maker
Artist by The Maker
