Chinese perfume house To Summer brings a whiff of change to Hong Kong’s western-oriented fragrance scene
The arrival of To Summer in Hong Kong marked the Chinese fragrance house’s first step outside mainland China. Those in the know were excited—and for good reason. Since its founding in 2018, the brand has been leading a renaissance in fragrance-making and attracting a new generation of Chinese consumers.
We sat down with founder Shen Li, who previously worked as an editor for a fashion magazine in mainland China, at the opening of the To Summer boutique in Causeway Bay to talk about the brand’s journey and ties to Chinese heritage. “Our generation grew up with Western culture influences,” she says. “When I entered the media industry a decade ago, my work connected me with people across diverse fields. Through these encounters, I witnessed a profound transformation among young Chinese people—a surging appreciation of eastern culture that was reshaping everything from literature and art to philosophy.” She started “It made me wonder about our way of life before western cultural influence. As I got deeper into the research, I found myself increasingly captivated by traditional Chinese aesthetics, especially the sophisticated art of fragrance.”
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To Summer Void perfume
To Summer Cedarwood perfume
She learnt that Chinese fragrance traditions date back thousands of years and differ fundamentally from those in the west. “Western perfumery emerged from the practical needs of European aristocracy: perfumes were developed to mask body odours [caused by wearing] heavy court attire,” she explains. “In contrast, fragrances were created purely for pleasure in ancient China. They included ingredients such as agarwood, sandalwood, angelica, aged citrus peel, gardenia, jasmine and Chinese mugwort—elements with subtle yet soul-stirring scents.”
To Summer's founder Shen Li
Just as painters work with canvas … and directors with images, we use fragrance to speak to the world.
By - Shen Li
The eastern approach to scent, with its emphasis on delicacy and ceremony, embodies what she calls “the beauty of uselessness”. It’s a concept exemplified by another contemporary Chinese success story: Pop Mart. As that brand’s founder Wang Ning said in a column interview with Origin Asset Management: “What serves no practical purpose often holds the deepest artistic worth. Once a product becomes functional, it is bound to a brief life cycle and inevitable decay.”
This reflects Shen’s perspective: “If Labubu were a power bank, it would never have sparked today’s collection craze. People collect Labubu for the same reason they collect perfumes—they’re not just buying the object, but rather a moment of reflection and connection with their inner self. With everyday items like facial cleanser or shower gel, buying several bottles is ‘stocking up’— that’s entirely different from ‘collecting’.”
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To Summer's fragrances are inspired by Eastern perfumery traditions.
To Summer's Causeway Bay boutique pays homage to local culture through its thoughtful design.
Chinese culture has long celebrated the “beauty of uselessness”; it is deeply rooted in classical poetry. Shen references a Chinese idiom that translates as “holding candles for night wandering”, explaining how in centuries past, people would gather at night to witness the fleeting and beautiful opening of the epiphyllum flower. Today, this idiom is used to refer to the idea of cherishing the present moment; a reminder that life’s most precious experiences often serve no practical purpose at all.
Fragrance played an important role in the lives of ancient Chinese scholars. Ming Dynasty scholar Tu Long’s 1590 work Kaopan Yushi: Xiangzhan described incense as an essential tool in scholars’ daily lives, creating the right atmosphere during private discussions, calligraphy practice and even moongazing. And they were prepared to invest in it; Shen says: “In ancient times, people would willingly spend fortunes on precious agarwood incense, all for those 15 minutes of tranquillity during burning.” A 2019 research paper by Professor Huang Ying-yu of National Chi Nan University titled “How Do Writings on Incense Represent the World?” references historical tax records from 1589, which show agarwood being taxed 100 times more than common sandalwood, underscoring its precious status.
To Summer's first Hong Kong boutique officially opens on Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay.
To Summer celebrates this reverence through its scents—particularly its bestseller, Nude. It pays homage to Chinese-French painter Sanyu, whose distinctive style merged Chinese calligraphic brushwork with western modern techniques from the 1920s. He is particularly noted for his series of nudes, executed with minimal, flowing strokes. Similarly, Nude the fragrance masters minimalism, capturing the clean scent of bare skin with fewer than 20 ingredients—magnolia, water lily, violet and hollyhock among them. “Just as painters work with canvas, installation artists with space and directors with images, we use fragrance as our way to speak to the world,” Shen says.
To Summer Nude perfume
Nude perfume draws inspiration from Sanyu's paintings.
Other bestsellers include Triple Tea, a woody composition that pays homage to Chinese tea culture, weaving together green tea, black tea and rock tea—a prized oolong from the Wuyi Mountains. A floral scent, Magnolia, captures a specific moment in Shanghai: the summer blooming of the titular flower along Wukang Road. And Ink interprets the essence of traditional ink-making: through ingredients like cedarwood and sandalwood, the fragrance recreates the meditative process of Chinese ink painting.
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To Summer Magnolia perfume
To Summer Triple Tea perfume
To Summer Ink perfume
To Summer’s principles stretch beyond merely crafting fragrances—the idea is to reimagine the traditional Chinese perfumery and celebrate tradition. The brand’s first Hong Kong boutique, set in a 1958 shophouse on Yun Ping Road in Causeway Bay, pays homage to local architectural heritage through its design elements. The galvanised iron shop sign echoes Hong Kong’s old streetscapes, where the material was once commonly used for security grilles, letterboxes and decorative screens. Inside, beaded curtains and antique-style floor tiles evoke the interior design aesthetic that was once popular among Hong Kong homes.
“We didn’t want to just sell perfumes, but to serve as a reminder for local heritage,” explains Shen. “That’s why we chose to open our shop in a historic neighbourhood with its own stories.”
To Summer's first Hong Kong boutique partnered with Hong Kong graphic designer Alan Chan to create a bespoke gift-wrapping station.
The brand also partnered with Hong Kong graphic designer Alan Chan to create a bespoke gift-wrapping station in the shop, where customers can choose to wrap their purchases in fabric featuring locally inspired motifs. Chan, who is renowned for bridging eastern and western design sensibilities, sees the brand’s emergence as having deeper significance than merely profit or popularity. “Throughout my career, I’ve sought to create designs that honour Asian cultural heritage while speaking to contemporary global aesthetics,” he told Tatler. “It’s heartening to see a new generation, through brands like To Summer, carrying forward this cultural dialogue.”
Shen has more plans specific to Hong Kong, noting the city’s unique role in China’s history. “We are planning a new launch in the first half of next year,” she reveals. “It will take a lot of study and research to build a scent for Hong Kong [but it will be worth it]—after all, it was one of the most important trading ports for incense in ancient times.”
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