The story of Akro is the story of a family that spans from the earliest days of the perfume industry in Grasse to the cutting edge artform of today.

It all started a few years back, when founder Anaïs Cresp was living in London and learning about the world. Working in the pubs and bars of the vibrant and diverse area of Ladbroke Grove, she became enraptured by the scents around her: the flower stalls, coffee houses, charcoal grills, the whiskey and leather of the grand old Irish pubs and the inescapable haze of weed in the air.

After a long, lost summer of indulging in everything the city had to offer, Anaïs hit on an idea. What if these distinctive aromas could be bottled and turned into fragrances? Perhaps, instead of just fruits and flowers, you could wear your favourite vice on your skin.

Luckily, she knew just the man to turn this daydream into a reality: her father Olivier Cresp, the master perfumer behind some of the best most known fragrances on the planet - including Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue and Mugler’s Angel. Together, father and daughter began to share ideas, stories and eventually scents. Soon enough, Akro was born.

Olivier and Anaïs Cresp

We all have our addictions, our vices, our favourite little rituals. Something about them just keeps us coming back - whether it’s the taste, the hit, the high, the rush, or that all-too-brief moment of absolute tranquility.

"Akro makes fragrances for people that don't like to say no."

For Akro, it's the smells that do it. The bitter hit of a morning espresso, the cold, smokey blast of bourbon falling over ice, the first drag of a post-coital cigarette, the unmistakable aroma of hashish floating through the city air in summer.

When it comes to fragrances, at Akro they understand that our favourite scents aren't always flowers and fruits. They know that sexy doesn't always mean sweet, that wellness doesn’t smell half as alluring as naughtiness.

They like to push their fragrances well beyond the established boundaries. They explore our indulgences and bottle them for your pleasure, using notes like warm leather, black coffee, top-shelf whiskey, dark chocolate, sticky weed and strong absinthe.

They try to innovate just as much as they invigorate - forever searching for the middle ground between fantasy and reality, pleasure and pain, science and sex.

Watch their story here: