Oo La Lab, the regional leader in experiential scent design, will present “Silk Road Perfumery” at Dubai Design Week 2025, the festival’s 11th edition themed “Community and Creative Collaboration.”
This immersive workshop invites participants to explore the olfactory heritage of one of history’s greatest trade routes - where fragrance, spice, and craft once connected continents and cultures through shared creativity.
For centuries, the Arabian Gulf stood as a vital crossroads of the Silk Road, a meeting point for merchants from India, Persia, East Africa, and China. From bustling souks to the holds of great merchant ships, rare ingredients such as clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and pepper journeyed alongside sacred resins like frankincense and myrrh - shaping rituals, medicines, and perfumes across civilizations.
In this hands-on session, participants will trace these perfumed pathways through time, learning how scent influenced culture, commerce, and wellbeing. Guided by the Oo La Lab team, guests will then craft a bespoke fragrance inspired by this exchange of ideas and ingredients - blending history, artistry, and emotion in a collaborative act of creation.
“Scent has always been more than a luxury - it’s a vessel for memory, trade, and storytelling,” says Dan Terry Jacobson, Founder of Oo La Lab. “With this workshop, we honour Dubai’s role as a cultural and creative nexus - a modern heart of the Silk Road, where collaboration continues to define community.”
The workshop forms part of the Maker Space programme at Dubai Design Week, a platform dedicated to hands-on learning and participatory design. Reflecting this year’s focus on Community and Creative Collaboration, the experience embodies Oo La Lab’s mission to make fragrance an inclusive, co-creative art form that bridges science, culture, and connection.
Maker Space, Dubai Design District (d3), Building 8
Wednesday, 5 November 2025
6:30PM – 8:30PM
Limited seats available via www.dubaidesignweek.ae
Oo La Lab is a fragrance design and sensory innovation studio with ateliers in Singapore, Dubai, and Bangkok. Rooted in the belief that scent is a powerful medium for connection, Oo La Lab creates experiences that unite art, science, and community. Through immersive workshops, olfactory installations, and collaborative design projects, the Lab transforms fragrance into a shared language of creativity and emotion.
Each creation is crafted from clean, conscious ingredients and designed to help people feel more deeply, live more consciously, and connect more meaningfully.
Exploring Human Chemistry
Dubai Design District, Building 4 Unit B204
https://uae.oola-lab.com/
Now in its 11th edition, Dubai Design Week 2025 is the region’s leading festival celebrating design and creativity in all its forms. Returning to Dubai Design District (d3) from 3–9 November 2025, this year’s edition is centered on the theme of “Community and Creative Collaboration” - highlighting how design fosters connection, dialogue, and shared progress.
Organised in strategic partnership with the Dubai Design District (d3) and Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, the festival features exhibitions, installations, talks, and workshops across architecture, interiors, product, and experiential design - transforming Dubai into a global meeting point for creative exchange.
