Xyrena

All perfumes & Information

In 1988, leather craftsman Dallas Ryerson founded the perfume house Xyrena in Austin, Texas. Ryerson wanted to create a fragrance that was sweeter than the men's perfumes commonly available at the time, but still retained the traditionally masculine aroma of suede. This led to the creation of the indie perfume house Xyrena with its first fragrance, 512, named after Austin's area code.

In the early 1990s, mainstream perfume brands took notice of Xyrena and developed similar fragrance concepts at lower prices. Frustrated by this development, Ryerson withdrew from the perfume industry and refocused on his leather craft.

In 2015, pop artist Killian Wells discovered a vintage bottle of 512 in a thrift store and decided to revive the brand. Ryerson sold the rights, including the original formulas, for one dollar and agreed that Wells would keep the terms of the deal confidential until after his death.

Wells' Xyrena won silver in the Best New Design & Packaging category and bronze in the Best New International Breakthrough Brand category at the 2016 Pure Beauty Awards in London. Wells' Dark Ride fragrance, released in 2015, was nominated for the Art & Olfaction Award in the same year. In 2018, Wells was named Hollywood Tastemaker of the Year and received awards for his creative achievements in producing the commercial for the fragrance Aaliyah by Xyrena, created in 2015 as a tribute to the late R&B artist.

After initially reviving Xyrena in Los Angeles, Wells decided that the authentic embodiment of the brand spirit could best be achieved in his hometown of Austin, Texas. There, he saw an opportunity to actively contribute to preserving and promoting Austin's creative character. In 2020, this strategic move was implemented when Wells relocated himself and the brand to Texas, where it remains headquartered today.