D

D.S. & Durga

Niche luxury fragrances with story-driven scents

Retail Sales Associate

Part-TimeUpdated on 10/23/2026
$21 - $23/hr
Mid
New York, NY, USA
In Person
RetailRetail Sales

About the job

Requirements
  • At least 2 years of experience working in retail or hospitality, preferably with a luxury product.
  • Proven selling and customer service skills.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Knowledge of retail store processes and procedures.
  • Ability and willingness to work a flexible retail schedule, including holidays, evenings, and weekends.
Responsibilities
  • Drive sales through in-store efforts and outreach, including clienteling and networking activities.
  • Work with the team to meet and exceed sales goals.
  • Assist customers and satisfy or exceed their needs by providing exceptional customer service.
  • Demonstrate excellent product and brand knowledge.
  • Follow the established steps of selling and provide a unique brand and product experience.
  • Open and close the store, control inventory, and follow loss prevention standards.
  • Assist customers and troubleshoot customer service issues when necessary.
  • Maintain the store’s daily upkeep and complete special projects as needed.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience working with retail point-of-sale and customer relationship management software.

About the company

D.S. & DURGA creates artisanal, niche fragrances and related scented products in Brooklyn. Their offerings include perfumes, candles, hand and body care, and auto fragrances, all developed as story-driven scents inspired by diverse cultural elements such as cowboys, open terrains, Russian literature, and folk songs. The products are designed to be worn or used in living spaces, with a focus on high-quality ingredients and small-batch craftsmanship. The company sells directly to consumers via its website and through select luxury retailers, often releasing limited-edition scents to create exclusivity. What sets them apart is the combination of handcrafted, culturally inspired storytelling with a luxury, artisanal approach, rather than mass-market fragrance. Their goal is to provide premium, narrative-driven fragrances and home products that connect personal experiences to distinctive scent memories.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Growth Equity (Non-Venture Capital)

Total Funding

$29.1M

Headquarters

New York City, New York

Founded

2007

Get referred to D.S. & Durga

See people who can refer or advise you

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Ain’t That Sweet launched August 25, 2026 at $225, expanding into gourmand.
  • Project CETI partnership and studio-reserve releases keep press and collector demand flowing.
  • Nordstrom and Revolve carry D.S. & Durga, widening reach beyond direct-to-consumer.

What critics are saying

  • Manzanita Capital bought control in 2024; exit pressure now favors growth over experimentation.
  • Heavy dependence on novelty fragrances forces constant launches; one dud damages full-price sell-through.
  • If Nordstrom trims fragrance space, D.S. & Durga loses major discovery traffic.

What makes D.S. & Durga unique

  • Co-founder David Seth Moltz still writes and composes campaigns, including Ain’t That Sweet, August 2026.
  • Brooklyn-made storytelling fragrances and own stores on Mulberry, Bedford, Madison, and Venice.
  • Manzanita Capital bought D.S. & Durga in January 2024, validating luxury niche value.

Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?

Benefits

  • Flexible Work Hours

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

26%

1 year growth

26%

2 year growth

26%
Beauty Scene
Oct 20th, 2026
D.S. & Durga explores winter rituals with Gothic Holiday.

D.S. & Durga explores winter rituals with Gothic Holiday. Inspired by winter rituals and celestial imagery, the collection explores seasonal scents. October 20, 2026, 12:13 pm D.S. & Durga introduces its Gothic Holiday collection, exploring winter rituals, celestial imagery and esoteric symbolism through fragrance and design. The seasonal release brings together new scented candles, a trio of gourmand perfumes and a limited-edition presentation of the brand's popular Debaser fragrance. Drawing inspiration from the longest nights of the year, the collection approaches familiar holiday traditions through the brand's distinctive creative perspective. Co-founder Kavi Moltz developed the collection's visual direction in collaboration with Welsh artist Jonathan Humphreys. Their work incorporates hand-drawn illustrations and graphic elements that extend from the packaging into animation. David Moltz contributes poetry to the project, connecting the visual material with the fragrances and their individual stories. The campaign develops through a series of chapters that explore the mysterious atmosphere of the winter season. The Amber Antiquity Candle introduces a warm, spicy fragrance inspired by desert environments and ancient aromatic materials. Desert juniper and holy woods establish the opening, followed by Balm of Gilead and saffron at the center. Amber and labdanum complete the composition, creating a rich scent that recalls the aromatic shrubs and resins of biblical landscapes. The second candle, Winter Solstice Pine, takes inspiration from northern forests during the coldest months. Its fragrance evokes snow-covered pine trees and the atmosphere of a winter night. Snow-on-pine provides the opening, while fir balsam and dark woods develop the scent's green, woody character. Amber introduces warmth to the composition. The collection continues with the Gothic Gourmands Set, which contains three 10ml fragrances for. Inspired by festive desserts and elaborate dining traditions, the set explores sweetness through three different compositions. Pistachio takes its direction from an elaborate dessert, while Black Magenta interprets the atmosphere of a colorful city at night. Cognac Reign introduces antique cognac as the central inspiration, developing a richer gourmand character. The set also draws on imagery of rare pink pineapples, pistachio treats and elaborate Gothic dining tables. These references connect the fragrances with the collection's wider interest in seasonal indulgence, unusual ingredients and ceremonial gatherings. D.S. & Durga also revisits Debaser with a limited-edition holiday sleeve. The fragrance draws inspiration from Black Francis, the sound of college radio and the atmosphere of August heat. Its opening combines bergamot, green leaf and pear stem, followed by fig, coconut milk and iris. Blond woods, tonka beans and moss form the base, maintaining the fruity, creamy and woody profile of the original perfume. The D.S. & Durga Gothic Holiday collection launches October 20, 2026, with Amber Antiquity, Winter Solstice Pine, Gothic Gourmands and Limited Edition Debaser forming the seasonal lineup.

Beauty Scene
Oct 8th, 2026
D.S. & Durga resurrects the Corpse Flower in perfume.

D.S. & Durga resurrects the Corpse Flower in perfume. Resurrected Corpse Flower pairs green olive, Madonna lily, tuberose and bog cedar in a limited release. October 8, 2026, 9:30 am D.S. & Durga introduces Resurrected Corpse Flower, a limited edition Studio Juice inspired by perfumer David Seth Moltz's encounter with the rare corpse flower at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in January 2025. Launching this October, the fragrance takes one of nature's most infamous smells and reconstructs it through florals, green notes and deep woods. Moltz approached the project with the idea of making the corpse flower beautiful again. Its association with decomposition provides the starting point, while the fragrance develops through olive, Madonna lily, tuberose, freesia and bog cedar. D.S. & Durga describes the composition as "half swamp, half flower," drawing its character from the tension between decay and floral intensity. The fragrance opens with green olive, Balm of Gilead and grapefruit. Freesia, Madonna lily and tuberose absolute form the heart, introducing a concentrated floral section. The base moves into green banana, bog cedar and papyrus, grounding the composition in vegetal and woody notes. The ingredients translate the corpse flower through a perfume built around its unusual combination of rot, vegetation and bloom. Resurrected Corpse Flower arrives from the Brooklyn fragrance house founded in 2008 by David and Kavi Moltz. The pair established D.S. & Durga during Brooklyn's DIY movement, developing perfumes around subjects that range from music and myth to cowboys, composers and details from everyday life. The brand treats each fragrance as an original creative work and develops accompanying stories, playlists, photography and films around its releases. David Moltz works as the house's perfumer. Self-taught, he developed his practice through access to rare materials and an independent approach to fragrance composition. His work centers on the idea that perfume can communicate with the expressive force of music, painting and literature. Kavi Moltz, a trained architect and D.S. & Durga co-founder, directs the visual identity surrounding the fragrances. Her work covers packaging, imagery and branding, establishing the visual system that accompanies David's compositions. With Resurrected Corpse Flower, D.S. & Durga turns a direct encounter at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden into a scent built from an unlikely botanical subject. The limited edition translates the corpse flower through green fruit, luminous florals and damp woods, taking its infamous identity as the beginning of a new perfume.

Candr Media Group
Aug 19th, 2026
D.S. and Durga launches a new sweet and spicy fragrance.

D.S. and Durga launches a new sweet and spicy fragrance. D.S. & Durga is stepping into sweeter territory with Ain't That Sweet, a gourmand fragrance balanced by warm spice and deeper notes. 19th Aug 2026 D.S. & Durga is trying something sweeter with its latest fragrance, but it has not gone all-in on dessert. The brand has teased Ain't That Sweet on Instagram, describing it as a new gourmand fragrance arriving on August 25. The idea is to make something rich and sweet that could still appeal to people who normally steer clear of sugary scents. It opens with myrrh and Sri Lankan cinnamon before moving into date, praline and lily at the heart. Condensed milk, bourbon vanilla and nutmeg make up the base, giving the fragrance its warmer, creamier side without making sweetness the only thing going on. Perfumer and co-founder David Seth Moltz told Hypebeast that he balanced the date-cake inspiration with musk, patchouli and real vanilla absolute. That keeps the fragrance rich without pushing it too far into sugary territory, especially for people who usually avoid traditional gourmands. Ain't That Sweet also comes with a nostalgic story rooted in young romance and early-2000s New York. Its inspiration includes handwritten notes, late nights in the city and the image of date cake and golden milk waiting on the kitchen counter. Music also plays into the launch, reflecting Moltz's background before he became a perfumer. He created an original "party soul" track for the campaign, while Kavi Moltz refreshed the packaging with the brand's peach-concrete colour and a sturdier keepsake-style box. Ain't That Sweet launches through D.S. & Durga and selected retailers on August 25. The 50ml bottle costs $225, with the 100ml version priced at $300. For anyone curious about gourmand fragrances but put off by anything that smells too much like dessert, Ain't That Sweet is D.S. & Durga's attempt to find a richer middle ground.

NST Perfume
Dec 14th, 2024
DS & Durga King Majesty Bergamot Chypre ~ new fragrance

Indie brand DS & Durga has launched King Majesty Bergamot Chypre, a new Studio Reserve fragrance.

PR Newswire
Dec 11th, 2024
Introducing The Cool Calm Cotton Set By Cotton X D.S. & Durga

The Cool Calm Cotton Set blanket is designed by D.S. DURGA's Kavi Ahuja Moltz. Thoughtfully knit in neutral tones, the geometric pattern, inspired by Art Deco symmetry, is designed to help one be mindful. "Drawing patterns and playing with graphics is so soothing to me," said Kavi Ahuja Moltz, co-founder of D.S. DURGA. "so collaborating with Cotton to design a soft cotton blanket was a total dream."