What is your oldest olfactory memory?

The strongest one is freshly cut grass, from when I was 9-10. When I left for summer holidays in the Swedish countryside, my task in the family was to cut grass. Not only I remember well the smell, but also its green hue. It reminds me of galbanum scent.

How did you meet perfumer Jérôme Epinette? Why did you end up working together?

While I was living in NYC, I wanted to find a specific scent for the leather bags I was designing. I then got in contact with Jerome Epinette through some friends, and we became very good friends. I met him 2/3 times per week, we had a close collaboration. For me, it’s crucial to follow up the creation process of a fragrance at each step and create a symbiosis with it. Now that I’m based in Paris, I work with Marc-Antoine Corticchiato, who has just created Body Paint and Chicago High.

How would you describe the creation process behind your fragrance collection?

When I create a fragrance, I imagine myself as Miles Davis at the Chelsea Hotel in NY, looking to find a new sound. He once invited a tango dancer from Argentina and a flamenco dancer. They both start dancing, with very different vibes. He listened to them and tried to grasp some inspiration within this dissonance. The same way, I look for a disruptive accord while smelling very different olfactory combinations.

How have the cities of Stockholm and New York influenced your brand?

The contrast between the two cities has strongly influenced the brand, and it dates back to my roots! My mom is an energy former hippie from NYC, where everything is over the top. My dad, instead, is from a small town, Borås, in Sweden: surrounded by nature and fresh air, his life has always followed a slow pace. They are very different and are still together, just like the contrasting elements building up the brand.

Can you tell us why you’ve picked saffron yellow as your brand’s iconic colour?

Yellow is joyful and positive, and it’s the colour of the sun. I chose it to add a playful tone to the high-end fragrance brand I was building. It creates a nice contrast, a friction. The saffron yellow hue comes from a bakelite piece I once found in a jewelry store in Paris: it was meant to be the color the caps, but it then became the brand’s colour.

You have decided to work with the legendary bottle designer Pierre Dinand. How have you met him and how was your collaboration?

Its fame led me to get in contact with him. He’s a legendary designer. I like his old way of working: he first draws, then his grandson Jules translates everything on digital support. He’s the one who added the retro style to the bottles.

How did you come up with the current shape of your perfume bottles?

When I briefed Pierre Dinand, I wanted to come up with something different yet taking inspiration from the past. The bottle has a flat low structure like a hockey puck, and a retro look given by the spirals. The inspiration of the boxes is Egyptian hieroglyphs: the motive is all at once an ancient frame and the name of the perfume, reproduced in series. It creates a subconscious appeal, which everyone interprets differently according to his or her own sensitivity. Also, the sound of the cap is supposed to reproduce the sound of the a high-end car closing up.

Can you explain the link between the name and the fragrance of Morning Chess?

As a kid in Sweden, I used to sit next to my dad and my grandfather while they were playing chess in the morning, on the Southern coast. I remember a feeling of green freshness, the clean and dry air by the coast. This sparkling memory is reproduced through the citrus notes. This perfume depicts the 3 generations of my family.

What about Black Citrus?

When I was in London, I once watched a documentary about Nureyev, one of the greatest Russian ballet dancer. I wanted to depict his incredible history. He escaped from a very remote village in Russia, and reached Paris. The contrast of the perfume, made of citrus notes and a vetiver base, reproduces the contrasts of his life, with its brightness and its darkness.

What are the last projects you’ve worked on and the ones yet to come?

The last novelty was the perfumes’ repack. We kept the same aesthetics but we took it to the next level: the glass, entirely produced in France, is now even clearer, and the label is embossed. We’re also launching the 20ml travel sizes in September. Last but not least, next year a body line for our bestseller perfumes will come out!