The Hedges

thehedgesco.com

Some things are made to be passed down. The Hedges was built on that idea.

Founded by makeup artist and creator Spencer Hedges, The Hedges is a luxury fragrance house rooted in family history, personal expression and an appreciation for the art of perfumery.

After more than a decade in the beauty industry, with an audience of millions familiar with his work, Spencer took an unexpected direction. Rather than introduce a makeup line, he set out to build a fragrance house with a much longer horizon. Its debut, Suite Nº22 Parlor Vanille, was created in collaboration with Clément Gavarry, Principal Perfumer at dsm-firmenich.

Exhibea partnered with Spencer to translate this vision into a distinctive digital experience, developing the brand's Shopify storefront ahead of its November 11 launch.

A name with a history

The Hedges story begins in Cuba in 1919, when Spencer's great-grandfather, Dayton Hedges, arrived on the island and went on to establish the largest textile company in Latin America. His business was built around an unusually progressive vision for its time, providing employees with six-hour workdays, housing and medical care during the 1930s. In 1960, the family lost the business and its holdings following the Cuban Revolution.

More than six decades later, Spencer is bringing the family name into a new era. We wanted the digital experience to honor that history without becoming a retrospective. The challenge was to give the heritage a contemporary expression — one that felt personal, relevant and distinctly its own.

A house, not a product launch

Spencer's ambition extended beyond introducing a fragrance. He envisioned an independent, family-owned house that could grow over generations — something his daughter, Celine, might one day inherit. That idea became the foundation of the digital experience.

Rather than approaching the website as a conventional product storefront, we developed it as an exploration of the house itself. Distinct editorial sections introduce the people, history and craftsmanship behind the fragrance: The Family, The Founder, The Vessel, The Nose and The Production. Each offers another perspective on the brand, giving visitors a reason to explore beyond the product.

The vessel as the visual language

The bottle began as Spencer's own drawing: a cut-crystal vessel with sculptural shoulders and an expression of cream seemingly melting over its surface. It became the defining visual element of the brand.

We allowed the vessel to inform the digital design system. Restrained compositions, considered typography and generous negative space give the bottle room to command attention. The visual language is formal yet expressive, balancing precision with the organic character of its defining detail. Nothing competes with the object.

Anticipation by design

The launch experience began well before the fragrance became available. In the weeks leading up to November 11, we developed a dedicated guest list landing page that introduced the house and invited visitors to register for early access. The remaining site navigation directed visitors back to the landing page, creating a focused pre-launch experience.

Registered customers received access one hour ahead of the public release. The result was a considered introduction that gave the launch a sense of occasion and made early access part of the brand experience.

Try it first

Fragrance presents a particular challenge in eCommerce: the most important part of the product cannot be experienced through a screen. To address this, we developed a Try It First program that pairs a 2 mL sample with the full-size 100 mL bottle.

Customers can experience the fragrance before opening the full-size bottle, allowing them to make a more confident purchase while keeping the primary product sealed until they are ready. We also incorporated the program directly into the cart experience, with a one-sample-per-order restriction. The result is a thoughtful intersection of product experience, customer confidence and purchase functionality.

A product page with a point of view

A fragrance is difficult to communicate through a conventional list of ingredients or scent notes. It needs a sense of atmosphere. For Suite Nº22 Parlor Vanille, the storytelling draws on the familiar pleasures of an old-world ice cream parlor: vanilla cream, caramelized sugar and waffle cone, layered with basmati rice, tonka bean, sandalwood and musk.

We translated these references into an editorial product experience that communicates the fragrance through imagery, language and carefully considered hierarchy. The product remains the focus, while the perfumer, composition and story are readily accessible for those who want to discover more.

Built for discovery

The Hedges has a story that extends well beyond its first fragrance. Its founder, family history, perfumer and creative process each represent meaningful points of discovery. We structured the site's content to make these stories accessible to both people and search engines, with clear page hierarchies, descriptive content and connected internal links.

The objective was to establish a digital foundation that supports branded search, organic discovery and the growing role of AI-powered search experiences.

Designed for the way people shop

With much of Spencer's audience discovering the brand through social media, the mobile experience was central to our approach. We prioritized intuitive navigation, responsive layouts, clear product presentation and a streamlined path to checkout. The experience carries the same visual restraint across devices without compromising usability or the details that make the brand distinctive.

The result

A digital home for a fragrance house built around heritage, craftsmanship and the idea of generational continuity. A considered introduction to a new brand, a distinctive product experience and a flexible commerce foundation designed to evolve alongside the house.

The Hedges was conceived to be passed down. Its digital presence was built with that same ambition.