Our Story

Layered is a premium fragrance house for all perfume lovers. We make unique and exotic Eau de Parfum that empower our customers to feel devine. The company started in 2018 as a side project that catered to people who requested custom made fragrances. Today, Layered serves thousands of customers around the world, our products are still 100% handcrafted, and freshly made to order. We're headquartered in Los Angeles, California but our journey started in Cairo, Egypt.

Founder Story

In 2002, after graduating school, Hany Hafez decided to open his first boutique in Cairo, Egypt. Then in 2010, Hany picked up his bags and journeyed to Europe. Finally, a year later he found his new home in the United States and opened his first storefront in 2012 in Los Angeles, called ZMZM Fragrances.

Hany's dedication and passion to offer breakthrough fragrances lead him to open his current online store, and in 2018 Layered was born. 

Layered Fragrances was created as an alternative to high-end, overpriced luxury fragrances. It gave perfume lovers who didn't have bottomless purses access to luxurious, high quality fragrances at affordable prices that empowered them to feel classy and beautiful.

Hany loves serving people, and understanding the importance of smelling divine is in his DNA. As a little boy in Egypt, Hany grew up watching his family mix oils and handcraft fragrances every day, as his family owned a series of fragrance boutiques in Cairo. That’s how Hany developed his skill for perfume creation, after his grandfather and uncles. With Layered, he found that working for people who love perfume gave him the freedom to be more creative and adapt quickly to their preferences.

So in 2018, Hany decided to shutter ZMZM Fragrances and focus exclusively on Layered. 

Hany believes that self-expression is the dominant necessity of human nature.  And authenticity is the daily habit of letting go of who we think we're supposed to be, and embracing who we are...which explains our slogan, "Express Yourself". Thus, each and every fragrance is named with an evocative feeling and intricately formulated to bring you back to that reminiscent moment in time.

Culture

Layered works to create a company culture that sustains a creative work environment and encourages a healthy work-life balance. Our employees have opportunities to attend events, share their work, and take time off to volunteer or learn new skills. And we’re always looking for new brand ambassadors, misfits and number crunchers to join our team.

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we’re cultivating an equitable and empathetic workplace, a listening and learning culture, and an empowered and inspired community.

Corporate Citizenship

Layered serves the people and organizations in Los Angeles that help make our city better, weirder, and more human.

We help tackle intergenerational poverty by partnering with nonprofits like LA+Acument that are dedicated to supporting communities in developing countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the United States. We help strengthen gender equality organizations, like Women's Center for Creative Works, which is a co-working space that - prioritizes women of color, queer, trans and nonbinary folks, and other marginalized communities - with a place that cultivates a spirit of hospitality and care, the same as everyone would like to have in their own home. We advocate for considerate urbanism alongside the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and LA Metro, our regional transit agency. And we connect employees with our investments through programs like Thought Leadership events, and unique culture benefits, which equips those employees with the tools to think deeply about fostering equity and inspiring positive change in Los Angeles.

We love our hometown of Los Angeles and want to make sure it’s a place where creativity is rewarded and where great ideas come to life. Layered has invested more than $50 thousand in our community—and we’re just getting started.