Words From Our Founder
Jon Bresler shares the secret behind LAFCO’s
reputation for artistry, craftsmanship, and integrity.
Our Founder
Establishing LAFCO in 1992, he began importing and developing niche fragrance and beauty products for the U.S. market. In addition to co-creating the Portuguese skincare brand Claus Porto, he became the first American distributor for the iconic Florentine pharmacy Santa Maria Novella and went on to introduce U.S. consumers to such brands as Korres Natural Skin Care and Eau d’Italie perfumes.
House & Home® Collections
Drawing on his accumulated expertise in aromatherapy and essential oil-based formulation and the fundamentals of classic perfumery he learned from the legendary Italian perfumer Lorenzo Villoresi, Bresler created LAFCO’s House & Home® collection of candles in colorful, blown-glass vessels and soon led the company to focus exclusively on developing and distributing our own line of original home fragrance and personal care products.
Guided by a longstanding dedication to environmental sustainability and principled business practices, Bresler has prioritized the careful selection and responsible sourcing of the materials and ingredients used in our products.
Nearly 30 years since founding LAFCO, Bresler remains fully engaged in the company, developing new fragrances and products that reflect our enduring values and independent spirit.
Our Products
Our products embody our belief that quality, craftsmanship, and conscience are essential ingredients of luxury.
Fragrance
All our perfumes are composed according to the classic olfactory pyramid structure of stacking notes. Each individual fragrance note unfolds over time, and this natural evolution is orchestrated to achieve the final scent. This sensory journey inspires our imagination to transport us to places we’ve been or aspire to go to.
Glass
Our vessels are hand-blown in some of the most prestigious glass blowing factories around the world. Each distinctive piece is created by layering colored pigments in the glassblowing technique. Our glass is created in a range of tones and transparencies, resulting in a radiant shimmer of hues that reflect and refract the light of the candle flame.
Formulation
We make considered choices to provide you with the highest quality experience. Each ingredient is thoughtfully selected to deliver natural luxury with pure purpose.
Home Fragrance
Our soy wax is renewable, biodegradable, and non-toxic. Characterized by a slow burn, our candles release fragrance gradually and evenly. We use highly concentrated essential oil-based fragrances to deliver a true and long-lasting scent.
Body Care
Our body care collection is crafted in Europe using natural, luxurious and pure ingredients. We believe body care should contain an abundance of natural oils and plant extracts for superior moisturizing and skin regeneration. Our products are formulated free of sulfates, parabens, and other synthetic ingredients.
Our Philosophy
Artistry. Integrity. Luxury.
We make fragranced products with a purpose: to elevate everyday moments into luxurious sensory experiences.
Artistry
We draw on our deep expertise in artistic perfumery and botanical skincare to develop fragrances and formulations with a modern aesthetic. Our products are designed to transform any space, any moment, or any mood.
Integrity
We make considered choices by working with partners who take pride in their trade and follow principled production practices. We strive to use sustainably cultivated, ethically sourced, and cruelty-free materials.
Luxury
Our products embody our belief that quality, craftsmanship, and conscience are essential ingredients of luxury.
30 Years of Inspiration
and Passion for Fragrance
Embark with us on LAFCO New York founder Jon Bresler’s journey of self discovery, formative experiences, and enduring relationships that helped him create the brand you know and love today. This journey reveals an ongoing exploration into the possibilities of fragrance.
1991
The Aromatherapy Revelation
Jon quit practicing law and began working and traveling in Europe. In Zurich, a fortuitous find in the Bellevue Aoptheke led him to purchase anti-stress aromatherapy bath oils. This began an extended odyssey around Europe exploring the apothecaries and purveyors of homeopathic tinctures. His quest to get more, learn more, and smell more began.
1992
The Beginning
Jon founded Luxury Articles & Fragrance Company with the intention to actively participate in the preservation of authentic European botanical and artistic perfumery practices. It was the start of a decade of importing and developing niche fragrance and beauty products for the U.S. market.
This was Jon’s first opportunity to work with European perfume houses to develop his fragrances and begin learning the art of perfumery.
1993
For the Love of Soap
In Porto, Portugal, Jon discovered a small, antique factory (est. 1880) with a rich history of artisanal soapmaking. Here, he developed the Claus Porto brand which included fragranced bar soap wrapped in historic art deco patterns – the first European luxury soap introduced to the U.S. market.
1993-1997
Natural Perfumery and Botanical Skincare
Jon learns all about botanicals and natural perfumery from the experts at the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.
1996
The Art of Perfumery
While Santa Maria Novella represented the school of natural perfumery where fragrances are derived from a finite, much smaller number of ingredients from which scent can be extracted, Lorenzo Villoresi was a classical perfumer whose compositions were much more complicated, sophisticated, and robust. To create a rose-scented perfume using Lorenzo’s classical perfumery approach, for example, 15 different species of rose and hundreds and hundreds of additional notes are blended to compose a classical rose fragrance.
1998
The Store
Jon opens the first LAFCO New York retail store in Tribeca, lower Manhattan. It is the first Santa Maria Novella store outside of Florence, Italy. Jon is widely celebrated in the beauty industry for making what was thought to be the nearly unattainable attainable.
- Santa Maria Novella owner Diana Stefani, W Magazine
2001
Modern Perfumery
Italian brand Eau d’Italie composed distinctively modern olfactory experiences in a contemporary Italian creative key. LAFCO New York launched the brand in the USA and a close bond was formed with the owners and creators.
2007
House & Home®: A New Era
With more than 15 years of accumulated expertise in essential oil-based formulas, and both classic and modern perfumery, Jon launched the LAFCO House & Home® Collection of luxury scented candles in colorful, blown-glass artisanal vessels.
It was the first-of-its-kind collection developed around the idea of combining scent, color, and design intended to transport consumers to a room, setting, or destination. The concept was to empower fragrance in candles to demonstrate how scent can transform a space and create an immersive sensory experience.
SHOP THE COLLECTION2012
Bath & Body as an Art Form
Jon went back to Europe to work with small, family-owned businesses to make natural skincare products. This endeavor included a multi-year quest to create the perfect bar of soap, sulfate-free liquid soap, and hand cream based on highly reparative botanical oils.
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2013
A Family Affair
Jon went from being the “cool uncle” to “boss” when his nephew Marty Shapiro joined the company as Chief Operating Officer. Over the next several years, Marty implemented a successful strategy to focus on distributing LAFCO-branded products only, leaving Jon free to focus exclusively on creating new products and fragrances.
2021
The Absolute Collection
LAFCO launches a collection that celebrates the core values that have defined the brand from the very start: Artistry, Integrity, and Luxury.
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2022
Celebrating 30 Years
LAFCO celebrates 30 years of inspiration and passion for fragrance with the introduction of the limited edition Paradiso Fig anniversary candle collection and a memorable look back at the earliest fragrance introductions that started it all.
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