Meet Dawn Marie West from La Botica
Founded in 2018 by artist and Afro-Dominican, Dawn Marie West, La Botica encapsulates edits that evoke the effortless and undone. Combining her experience in art direction and luxury perfumery with her Black and Afro-Dominican culture, read how Dawn created a sanctuary out of her brand.
La Botica opened as an online showroom in 2018. I was working as a Fine Art Photographer, while also a Museum Supervisor in New York City. I graduated with a degree in Photography, so it began as escapism for me when I needed to find a space to be free-spirited as an artist, with a new medium. La Botica originally was a curated concept shop for self-care products that reflected the work of the New York gallery scene and modern ritual apothecary. It evolved into a luxury candle brand and a small clothing capsule, (inspired by New York street style) - that I designed from scratch. I've always had an art background, and it was important to me that La Botica reflected that completely. When I design a new candle, it is the same process as our clothing line, they are interchangeable in being carefully curated and design-centric and released by seasons.
I had the vision to build a brand around luxury perfumed objects and minimalist basics, all while bringing my African American and Dominican cultures into the aesthetic and core of our brand. I wanted to bring cool, effortless luxury to the home fragrance market, but also sustainability, slow perfumery, and clean ingredients, which is the new luxury for many of us.
Our process for product design, set design of our shoots and photography is done completely in-house by me, we have designated days for hand pouring and small batch production of our collections where my team comes in. This in-house process has been the core of our brand, allowing us to keep a personal touch to each of our pieces.
We've worked endlessly on sustainability efforts for the last two years. We currently source all of our raw materials domestically and work with incredible perfumers to bring our brand's story to life. Sourcing our Palo Santo incense was so exciting for us. We connected with a wonderful family-owned Palo Santo farm in Ecuador to source our ethical and sustainable Palo Santo. This connection has allowed us to also contribute to the reforestation and economic wellness of their spaces.
We are so grateful to have the ability as an independent Black/Afro-Latinx brand to be a self-care sanctuary in an uncertain climate and extend the experience of everyday self-care rituals to those around us.
We are inspired by: The Kooples, KITH, Costa Brazil, Opening Ceremony.
Smells like summer, but better. This fragrance is my signature for my studio and home space.
This is my signature fragrance. There isn't a day I'm not wearing Casablanca. It is delicate, feminine yet modern.
Ceremony is my 100% essential oil aromatherapeutic candle, whenever my energy is off, I light up Ceremony and feel so much lighter.
La Botica
La Botica is a chill space to escape and a collection of sustainable luxury pieces. The concept line includes perfumed candles hand-poured in small batches at the La Botica Studio, ethically sourced palo santo incense for your self-care ritual and dreamy chill-wear basics.
