David-Lev Jipa-Slivinschi

David-Lev Jipa-Slivinschi is the Bucharest-based founder and perfume-maker behind Toskovat'.

A former filmmaker and screenwriter, he turned to scent during the pandemic as a more intimate medium for storytelling.

Self-taught and deliberately so, he prefers "perfume-maker" over "perfumer", wary of the exclusions that come with formal titles.

His fragrances are memory-driven and emotionally confrontational; his bestseller, Inexcusable Evil, smells of blood, bandages, and burning flowers, a scent he says is not supposed to be worn.