The perfume house BIBBI Parfum is still a newborn – the world met the brand in October 2023. It debuted with flair in the luxurious London department store Liberty, which for almost 150 years has offered the most refined and beautiful things in the world of fashion and beauty. A month later the brand’s founder, Stina Seger, came to the Galilu perfumery in Warsaw. Sure, I was curious about the fragrances, because the material version of a story drawn from the subconscious is intriguing by definition, but I was even more interested in the author of the idea. (So much so that I arrived early for the meeting, the first one there). I had imagined her as a hippie Swede, wrapped in a veil of patchouli, talking about karma and reincarnation. Instead she greeted me as a warmly elegant Parisian in black: jacket, jabot, flowing trousers; tightly pulled-back blonde hair, a classic dark line on the eyelid. But when she smiled, I saw a cheerful little girl – like those in Astrid Lindgren’s books. We talked briefly about similarities between Poland and Sweden, and then the rest of the guests invited to the launch arrived and the decoding of the non-obvious titles of the individual compositions began: Ghost of Tom, Radio Child, The Other Room… We arranged a longer conversation for the next morning. And again she greeted me as a Parisian dressed in black with the smile of a mischievous little Swedish girl. A fascinating mix. 

^{STINA SEGER DURING A VISIT TO GALILU IN WARSAW photo: Paulina Puchalska}

How did a Swede come to live in Paris? 

Do you want to know the reason? It’s my partner, Jan. When we met, I happened to be at a stage in life where I felt completely free. I’m a graphic designer; for a long time I ran a marketing agency and my own magazine about art and gardening. After 10 years I sold the agency, closed the magazine, became a freelancer and… I met Jan. He asked if I wanted to go to Paris for New Year’s Eve. I answered: of course! I went and stayed. I returned to Sweden only briefly to sell my apartment. 

A big change. Did it come easily? 

Very easily. From the start I knew what I wanted. Jan did too; we were no longer in our twenties. We wanted to try being together, to get to know each other better, and we decided it wasn’t worth wasting time. Jan was then working on his perfume brand – Vilhelm Parfumerie. He consulted me on graphic projects. He traveled a lot, first visiting boutiques where the perfumes were to be sold, later going to promotional meetings. And I went with him, because I could and wanted to. I have this piece of advice for everyone starting a relationship: if you’ve met someone and want to get to know them well in the shortest time possible – travel together as much as you can! Spending a week in a small hotel room, sometimes in difficult conditions, you’ll learn a lot about each other.  

That could have been an emotionally intense experience. 

It was intense. But I also realized then that we are similar. We don’t hesitate; when we do something, it’s one hundred percent, we allow ourselves to be completely absorbed by it. 

^{GHOST OF TOM FROM THE BIBBI PARFUM COLLECTION photo: Paulina Puchalska}

How many years have you been living in Paris? 

Five. I’m still learning the city and its people. For example, on Monday you go into a cafe, order an espresso and someone snaps at you: there’s none! And on Tuesday the same person is polite, friendly, shortens the distance. Paris is my love story, a beautiful city. I fell in love with it immediately. It has so much energy, so much culture, you want to soak it up every day. Visit every bookstore, see every exhibition in the smallest gallery, go to every vintage boutique, every historically important place, look at the houses where artists lived.  

Don’t the tourists bother you? 

Jan and I first moved to Montmartre. I come from the west coast of Sweden, I’m used to open spaces and at first this pretty historic district seemed small and crowded. Over time I grew to like it a lot. Now we live in Le Marais, it’s much calmer there, though we don’t stroll there on weekends; there are too many tourists then.  

Do you have many Parisian friends? 

No. That’s another thing I discovered here – Parisians don’t seek out new acquaintances. Probably the fact that I don’t speak French makes it harder. But I have one wonderful friend; our daughters study together. She’s French, a native Parisian who spent years in London. Recently she invited me to her home for dinner. I said: thank you so much, that’s the second time in five years someone has invited me to their home! (Laughs). 

^{THE AUTHOR OF THE TEXT, JOANNA LORYNOWICZ, AND STINA SEGER AT GALILU IN WARSAW photo: Paulina Puchalska}

You laugh about it now, but weren’t the beginnings harder? 

It was just me and Jan. We had a lot of work, we traveled a lot. We went to our apartment in Nice and spent several months there, I became pregnant with my first child. We bought an apartment in Paris and in 2019 we settled in the city. I now lead a less nomadic life. When you have small children, it’s important to create a safe base. 

Where to go in Paris to avoid crowds? 

There are such places in Le Marais – hidden treasures, for example Jardin de l'Hôtel de Sully. A palace garden you can’t see from the street; you have to walk through a tunnel, then a few pairs of steps and finally you arrive. You enter a beautiful garden sheltered from the wind and city noise, you can sit, rest, drink coffee, play with the children. There’s also the Jardin des Plantes, a bit further from the center. Usually there aren’t many people there. It’s actually several gardens in different styles, plus the natural history museum and a playground. I also like the Bois de Vincennes. Fifteen minutes by metro from home and I’m in another world. A delightful place where you can see plants from all over the world. When I return from Poland, I’ll go there for a walk with my daughters. 

And where do you go to smell new perfumes? 

To the Dover Street Perfumes Market – they have interesting niche brands. They like to experiment, for example using AI to match a customer with the right scent. 

Before you created your own brand, which perfumes did you use? 

Philosykos by Diptyque and Mitsuko by Guerlain. I still reach for the latter. 

^{RADIO CHILD FROM THE BIBBI PARFUM COLLECTION photo: Paulina Puchalska}

Where did your nickname come from? 

It’s been with me my whole life, since infancy. I suppose the author was my older sister, who wasn’t even two years old when I was born and couldn’t speak well yet, and Bibbi sounds a lot like the word “baby”.  

Did you know from the start you would name your brand that way? 

Yes. First the idea to create it appeared, and right after that the name. I’d long dreamed of doing something that expressed me – as a graphic designer I created visual identity for beauty brands, among other things. Of course I didn’t imagine it would be a perfume brand. Until I met Jan and the creative process in my head gained momentum. Later two children arrived, and that steered my thoughts in another direction. However, when the second daughter was born, Jan left Vilhelm Parfumerie, the company he had created. He could take care of the little one, which gave me the time needed to develop the concept. When you’re at home with children, especially not yet independent ones, there’s no chance that inspiration and focus will appear to refine loose ideas. So Jan stayed with the girls, I rushed to a cafe to work, returned home to feed the younger one and ran back to work again. Quite mad, but also very pleasant; I was doing something I truly wanted, it came naturally. I translated into scents the images that appeared in my subconscious. I had enormous fun doing it. Maybe with the exception of the production process itself, that’s not my strong suit (laughs), Jan helped a lot there. But the rest – coming up with concepts, working on the visual side, testing prototypes, conversations with the „nose” – that I loved. 

What decided that you hired Jérôme Épinetto to compose the fragrances? 

We also checked other excellent perfumers. With Jérôme we simply understood each other best; he caught my ideas at a glance. He had previously worked with Jan on creating Vilhelm, so we knew we’d get along. I wanted all the scents to be luxurious, refined, but not weird. I wanted them to be pleasant to wear despite their originality. Jérôme did a great job. And he was easy to work with, not overly precious about his art. He responds quickly to questions, doesn’t get offended when I ask for changes, he’s lovely.  

How did you communicate the information he needed to create the perfumes? 

Each composition corresponds to a story that appeared in my head during meditation. Jérôme received from me its description, a pictorial moodboard, selected scent notes that I associated with the story. I saw that it was inspiring for him and I felt he liked that way of working. He later sent prototypes; Jan and I tested them together. We sent back the fragrance with comments and received new samples. Some compositions required more work than others. For example Ghost of Tom we changed a week before production started.  

What turned out to be so difficult? 

Capturing a particular state, mood. I wanted that scent to be like a fog following you, the shadow of someone’s presence. However it couldn’t be frightening or unsettling; it had to be comforting. In the end it contained perfectly balanced tea and smoky notes. Actually all of them have an ambiguous character, they’re like ghosts. And for instance Swimming Pool wasn’t easy either. I wanted as much herbal freshness in it as possible. Yesterday I had two meetings with Galilu clients – I was surprised how well Poles received that composition. I’m happy because I like it too – pure refreshment, mint and basil! But I didn’t know how people would take such perfumes, I wasn’t sure which one accompanied me, for example, when I was working on Santal Beauty.  

Which fragrance are you most proud of? 

Of all of them! Do I have to choose one?   

Yes, please. 

In that case The Other Room. Maybe because I usually have a problem with patchouli, I don’t like it. It easily takes over other notes, drowns them out. I feel satisfaction that we managed to create patchouli perfume that I myself wear with pleasure. I’d never done that before. It’s also a very complex composition with many ingredients, and Jérôme balanced them perfectly. And the name: from the start I didn’t want to give BIBBI users obvious clues, to hint at what’s inside. I only wanted the titles to convey the feeling that accompanied me during wanderings in the subconscious. In The Other Room the combination of my vision, the name and the scent worked particularly well; they’re sensual but also have something exquisite – like the imagination of royal sex. 

Do you think the creator’s gender affects the final effect of a perfume? 

I’m convinced of that. The energy of a scent comes from who created it. Today most noses and brand founders are men. There should be more feminine energy. After all it’s mainly we who buy perfumes, even for men! In the case of BIBBI, thanks to the combination of Jérôme’s and my strengths we achieved balance; we complement each other like yin and yang. 

More women are entering perfume schools in France. But companies mainly hire men. Talented girls need places where they can work and develop. 

I hear what you’re telling me and I will remember it! 

^{STINA SEGER DURING A VISIT TO GALILU IN WARSAW photo: Paulina Puchalska}

Where did the idea for the signature color – a special, deep shade of blue – come from? 

It always appears when I’m in deep meditation. You won’t find this shade in any swatch book; it was developed especially for BIBBI. It’s interesting, mysterious, but also inviting. It repeats in the advertising photos, on the flacon stoppers, labels, packaging. It’s a journey into blue. When we were designing the elements I stood in the print lab checking shades under a specialist lamp. “A little more black, a little more” – I kept saying. It was difficult, but I enjoyed it.  

And the blue backlit cabinets and the way of presentation?  

That was all my idea. The same with the bottle – I designed it too. I wanted to combine a vintage character with functionality, to achieve a balance between lightness and solidity. Many perfume bottles were invented by men and fit well only in masculine hands. This one works equally well in women’s and men’s hands. It’s heavy, but not too heavy, stable. 

And the graphic on the stopper? 

It symbolizes the BIBBI universe and the journey between different dimensions.  

Did you plan from the beginning to create a collection of nine scents? 

Yes, nine has interesting symbolism, it’s the number of idealists. I’m a little superstitious, so I cared about choosing a good number (laughs).  

Do you know your number according to numerology? 

Three. 

A creative optimist, it all fits. Do you believe in astrology? 

Not really, but I’m a bit interested. I know I’m a Gemini – so is my partner. It seems to me that many phenomena we don’t yet understand. Who at the beginning of the 20th century would have thought of mobile phones? And today we have them, they’re our everyday life. We’re used to four dimensions, but physicists think there are more. Some people fear the unknown; for me it’s fascinating. 

^{THE BIBBI PARFUM COLLECTION photo: Paulina Puchalska}

Reality changes so quickly you can get scared. 

An excellent tool that helps control fear is meditation. You sit for a moment, breathe rhythmically, deeply, you calm down, slow the pace. It seems to us that life passes so quickly, yet time is an illusion. We can slow it down ourselves. I have a feeling that if everyone meditated every day, even for a dozen minutes, we would live in a better, more beautiful world. 

When did you start meditating? 

At nineteen. Before that I didn’t have the chance; I lived in the countryside. Meditation or yoga there? Back then unthinkable (laughs). Today it’s normal, but in the past you could probably practice yoga and meditation in Sweden only in Stockholm. I left home for university, started meditating and immediately fell in love with it. I do it every day. 

Do you still do it today? 

Yes. It’s not always such a deep experience that you feel like you’re leaving your body (laughs). I also try to meditate with my daughters, although they are only 4 and 2 years old. They sit with me and breathe deeply: inhale, exhale; they look super cute then. I’m happy I can teach them something that gives inner calm. I think even at such an early stage it’s a useful skill. At kindergarten, at school there are stressful moments, and the girls are there on their own, without parents. In meditation, with rhythmic breathing you can find calm. 

Do you intend to create a game, an app for the BIBBI brand… 

I plan to design an entire universe. I’m interested in collaborating with artificial intelligence, narrative computer games, of course not war games – combining them with such a traditional discipline as perfumery could be fascinating. In Malmö we have a large gaming hub; we’ve already spoken with specialists there. I’d like it to be a journey into another world. You wouldn’t need to know perfumes to find your way in it. An exciting matter; I could be the director and – unlike in film – have no limitations except financial ones. So that chapter will have to wait a bit, we’ll probably need to find an investor. Meanwhile we’re doing smaller things, like a film for each scent. 

Plans for the near future?  

A new scent is about to join the collection, it’s ready and awaiting launch. In spring or summer we’ll show sample sets, and later candles. I can’t wait!