The First-Ever Hermès Parfumerie Can Turn You Into a Horse

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"Whimsy" might not be the first word you think of when it comes to Hermès, but that's exactly what the French luxury house is bringing to New York City with the debut of its first perfume store. Nestled within a back corner of Brookfield Place's Winter Garden (where other high-end shops like Bottega Veneta, Burberry, and Salvatore Ferragamo are concentrated), shoppers can check out the brand's entire range of fragrances, bath products, and a New York-exclusive candle when the doors open to the public this afternoon — but first, they should hit the App Store.

Tucked around the store among the perfume bottles and homey decorative touches like locks and horse statues are little orange boxes brought to life by the Hermès 225 Liberty app, which reveal a 3D graphic when viewed through your phone. What do they have to do with perfume? Not much, from what we could tell at a preview earlier this week — but consider playing around with it when your nose needs a break. Here's a smattering of what you'll see:

And artsy touches like these aren't limited to what's in the store itself. To celebrate its debut this week, Hermès has installed paper crane statues in the Pumphouse Park next door to Brookfield Place, as well as a tunnel of flowers that's already been quite popular with tourists:

A photo posted by Laura Gurfein (@lauracgurf) on Sep 14, 2015 at 4:44pm PDT