Kimbra Collective · Our story
Made of this place.
A family-founded perfume house honoring Southern Oregon through fragrance—its orchard heritage, its remarkable botanical life, and the independent spirit of the people who make things here.
Mike + Shanna
A love story, a family story, and a Rogue Valley story.
Mike and Shanna were born and raised in Southern Oregon. Together they are raising five children here, surrounded by the same contrasts that shaped them: cultivated orchards and untamed forest, long dry summers and rain-dark winters, small towns and wide-open country.
Their perfume house began with a shared love of fragrance and a question: what would it mean to make fine perfume that felt unmistakably of home? Not a souvenir of the valley, but a serious, evolving body of work—built with the patience, independence, and sense of place they learned here.
THE PERFUMER
Mike
Mike is the self-taught perfumer behind Kimbra Collective’s formulas. His study of perfumery became all-consuming in early 2024, when recovery from an injury and two knee surgeries created an unexpected period of complete immersion. What began as fascination became a rigorous, self-directed practice grounded in composition, materials, safety, and the traditions of fine fragrance.
His education remains deliberately ongoing—spanning hundreds of books, technical references, historical texts, contemporary methods, material studies, safety standards, and countless hours of formulation, evaluation, documentation, and revision.
Mike approaches fragrance as fine art: a medium for emotional storytelling, capable of holding landscape, memory, tension, and atmosphere. Every formula begins with something worth expressing—not simply a list of notes.
THE FINAL VOICE
Shanna
Shanna is a local hospice nurse and an OHSU School of Nursing graduate whose work is grounded in presence, dignity, and care. She is also the house’s final editorial voice, bringing an exceptionally discerning nose, impeccable taste in materials, and the instinct to recognize when a composition is resolved—and when it is not.
Her judgment is the definitive yes or no behind every formula.
Mike composes the formula. Shanna decides whether it has earned the name Kimbra Collective.
A note on place
The valley was fragrant long before us.
The Rogue Valley’s story did not begin with its famous pear orchards. For thousands of years, the Takelma, Shasta, Latgawa, Dakubetede, and other Indigenous peoples lived with and cared for this land. We name that deeper history with respect and approach the landscape as students—not owners of its story.
Later, fruit growing transformed the valley. Orchards spread around Medford, Central Point, Phoenix, Talent, and Ashland; pear blossoms became part of the local calendar. Beyond them, the Siskiyou and Cascade landscapes hold an extraordinary meeting of conifers, madrone, oak, river, and dry grassland. The flat-topped Table Rocks and Mount McLoughlin’s distant volcanic cone become visual anchors for that meeting—cultivated and wild.
Our mission
Honor our roots. Make original work. Leave something worthy behind.
From the first note on paper to the final bottle, we want every Kimbra fragrance to carry the integrity of its making. That means learning deeply, sourcing thoughtfully, documenting every decision, and giving each composition the time it needs.
01 · Place
Compose from home
We translate the orchard, forest, weather, and emotional texture of Southern Oregon into original perfumery.
02 · Material
Source with intention
We favor fine natural materials and source Oregon-grown extracts and distillations whenever quality, provenance, and season allow.
03 · Community
Work close to the source
We seek out independent growers, distillers, and artisans producing regional conifers and native botanicals with care.
04 · Scale
Stay deliberately small
Limited runs—usually no more than a few thousand bottles—protect the quality, character, and intimacy of the work.
Our material standard
Material with purpose. Provenance with proof.
Fine naturals—extracts, absolutes, resins, and distillations—bring texture and place to our palette. Contemporary perfumery materials bring diffusion, stability, and precision. We use perfumer’s alcohol as the carrier. Every material must earn its place through quality, safety, performance, and origin—not simply fit a marketing category.