This Month’s Featured Article

“I’ve always been drawn to scent as a form of memory – how a single note can carry you back to a place, a season, or a feeling you forgot you missed,” shared Christina DiBernardo, the creator of Kinrove Fine Fragrance, a signature perfume brand based in the Northeast. 

Christina never anticipated being so interested in perfume. She comes from a long career in fashion design, with over 25 years spent shaping collections for brands like Ralph Lauren, Timberland, L.L.Bean, Alo Yoga, Kimes Ranch, and more. Her work has always orbited around materiality, story, and the emotional power of things that are well made. But 12 years ago while living in Los Angeles, Christina had the instinctive urge to take classes and explore the concepts in perfumery more seriously. Christina describes Kinrove’s Original Scent as the “final thesis” of those classes.  

“I started blending for myself, then for friends’ gifts, namely Melissa Davis of Marton & Davis, and realized that I was building something that felt like home: a small-batch fragrance house shaped by memory, rooted in place, and guided by a sense of modern Americana,” she shares. 

How and where it started

Christina grew up on a farm that was built in the 1760s in Massachusetts, and her parents were in “restoration mode” throughout most of her childhood. “My father is a very skilled craftsperson and did all of it himself. I was surrounded by that craft and attention to detail, as well as early American art and decor, the scents of an old hearth heated, exposed wood beam house – I think the inspiration was cemented early on.” 

Kinrove’s studio is based in Athens, NY, and currently, Kinrove is carried exclusively at Marton & Davis in Chatham, NY. Melissa, Christina’s friend and Marton & Davis co-owner, was the catalyst for Kinrove officially going public with its Original Scent. “Melissa and Sherri’s shop shares my love for craft, heritage, and objects that touch our soul and give joy,” she says. 

Christina doesn’t plan to open a brick and mortar shop or expand into e-commerce until Kinrove’s offerings are broader. For now, she prefers partnering with places whose spirit “naturally aligns with Kinrove,” so she can focus on creating. 

Creation and process

Speaking of creating, Christina’s process for creating scents is intuitive and rooted in mood. She begins with a feeling – a memory, a piece of folklore, a slant of light – and proceeds to build the scent the way she would a garment: through proportion, layering, and restraint. 

Her formulation process typically starts at her kitchen counter, which is stocked with vials, droppers, and a micro-scale. This process, she says, is then followed by a lot of trial and error. “I make small variations, let them rest, and return later with a clearer nose,” she shares. “Some materials blend beautifully, while others resist entirely. Working with them has given me a deep respect for the perfumers who have mastered the more temperamental or demanding ingredients – I am looking at you, tuberose!” 

Ultimately, inspiration always comes back to place and people – early American textures like tobacco leaf, warm woods, earth after rain, and sun-dried linen. Christina is inspired by the textures of simple American life, translated through a clean, minimal lens. At its core, Kinrove is a practice of honoring the past, while building something new. 

Christina wear-tests each trial on both skin and fabric, paying close attention to how it shifts throughout the day and refining until the scent settles into itself. “The goal is always the same: a scent that feels atmospheric and modern, yet quietly familiar, as if it’s been with you longer than you realize.” 

A powerful form of kinship

Kinrove’s ingredients are all sourced from trusted global suppliers who prioritize ethical, high-quality raw materials. The ingredients for Kinrove’s Original Scent come from producers in California and France that have been a part of the Kinrove story since the very beginning. Meanwhile, all blending and bottling occurs by hand in small batches at Christina’s Athens studio to ensure consistency and craft. 

In the near term, Christina is focused on expanding Kinrove’s scent library. A few new fragrances inspired by season shifts and regional stories are currently in development and are slated for an early spring launch. Longer term, she hopes to grow Kinrove into a fuller world that includes home fragrance, limited-edition collaborations with local makers, and eventually, a small studio or shop that functions as both a blending lab and a gathering space – “something intimate, creative, and rooted in the landscape that inspires the brand.” 

“Scent is such a personal language, and watching someone respond to something I created feels like a powerful form of kinship,” she says. “For me, it’s hearing how people connect to a scent – what it evokes for them, what memory or place it stirs up.” 

“Kinrove is still unfolding,” she continues. “It’s a young brand, very small, but built with a lot of heart. Every element – from the fragrance notes, to the packaging, to how we tell our story – is chosen with care. I hope people feel that when they wear it: a sense of grounding, of story, of belonging.” •

Learn more about Kinrove at kinrove.com, find them exclusively on shelves at Marton & Davis, 33 Main Street, Chatham, NY, and follow Kinrove on Instagram @kinrove.co.

Photos by Isabel Butler and Mendy Waits.