Aesop has been making skincare with distinctive aromas since it launched in Melbourne in 1987, and its Fragrant Fables collection takes that a step further by pairing each eau de parfum with its own short written fable. To mark the arrival of the collection's newest scent, Unforeseen Aer, the brand has transformed its Aesop Sydney store on Pitt Street into Fragrant Fables Perfumery — a temporary sensory installation that's open to the public until Sunday, November 1. Rather than setting up a standard fragrance counter, Aesop has styled the space as a living library, with pages suspended and moving through the air alongside sculptural stacks, amber glass, incense, greenery and raw ingredients laid out in abundance. The design is tactile rather than theatrical, so it rewards a slow wander — take your time, get up close to the materials and work through the collection at your own pace. At the centre of it all is Unforeseen Aer, Aesop's unconventional take on a classic fougère. It pairs what the brand calls a Fabulist Accord of geranium, lavandin and rosemary — meant to conjure clean air rushing across rugged heights — with nutmeg for a warmer, more textured edge, and it comes in 50-millilitre ($290) and 100-millilitre ($430) bottles. The accompanying fable follows a gentle wind that fears the disruption it might cause, before learning to revel in the chaos its gusts and breezes bring about. The installation is the latest in a run of Aesop store takeovers, following the Aesop Nasotheque fragrance space and the brand's Queer Library, which turned its Flinders Lane store into a pop-up library stocked with free books. Fragrant Fables Perfumery is open now at Aesop Sydney, Shop 2047, 188 Pitt Street, Sydney, until Sunday, November 1. You can read the Unforeseen Aer fable and browse the full Fragrant Fables collection on the Aesop website. Images: Supplied