Distinct Olfactory Elegance – Interview with John Malloy, co-founder of MEMO Paris

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Distinct olfactory elegance

WORDS: AMY SESSIONS

Fuelled by an endless passion of wanderlust, this ultra-luxe fragrance brand is the brainchild of eternal explorers John and Clara Molloy. We spoke to John Malloy on how Memo Paris leads you on a journey of olfactory elegance

What is your first memory of scent? Where I grew up: Ireland! Its soul and soil, its raw, intense greenness, its rugged shores and freedom, its horses and countryside… I remember all these scents. Olfaction is like a time machine; it can bring you anywhere and this is this magic we wanted to achieve by creating Memo Paris. Which notes in a fragrance do you personally look for? I’m open to any surprise, if the composition offers something both strong and unexpected, from floral to woody. We want to give a lot of freedom to the perfumers we work with, without restraining their olfactive palette and creativity, so I’m ready as well to welcome many different notes, facets and accords. What was the catalyst to launch your own brand and how did you know it was the right time? The catalyst was our own conviction with my wife Clara, who is behind all the creative aspects. It was the beginnings of the Niche Parfumerie, and we felt we had a card to play. My previous experience in the luxury business, her vision, the talent of the perfumer Alienor Massenet who created for our side Lalibela, the first Memo Paris fragrance, and many others since then: the combination seemed to be the right one, looking back 15 years ago! You both love to travel – how has this shaped the brand? We love to learn from the world, from different cultures, rituals, but we’re not always on the road! Since the beginning of the brand, we believe that looking at a simple map, reading the epic of an author or contemplating a canvas representing a landscape, are beautiful and inspiring journeys too. Nowadays, focusing also on the preservation of our planet, slow and imagiity and celebration in the use of these ingredients, to welcome people, to prepare events, a more collective approach and it’s beautiful to share it, and to learn from this dimension, as we are used to a more individual way of wearing perfumes. We just opened a boutique in Dubai, soon in Qatar and it’s a pleasure to see that Memo Paris finds its audience. Which Memo Paris fragrance consistently drives sales? We don’t approach our brand with best sellers, otherwise you don’t take the risk of trying and launching something new. Every region, every person has its favorite ones, and we respect and encourage this diversity. What does the future look like for Memo Paris nary travels tend to be our favourite ones: a and how do you approach scaling a brand train trip and an adventure book can make whilst retaining its individuality and attention a full Memo day! to detail? I wish I could tell you about a seCan you define the DNA of Memo Paris and cret recipe to foresee! Of course, we want the how the branding itself originated? Memo brand to shine in many countries, and make perfumes are conceived with the desire to more perfume lovers discover its uniqueness last. We want the skin to memorize their without changing our identity or moderatpresence, the beauty and quality of the natu- ing its originality. Creating beautiful and ral ingredients inside, with a trail like a sou- desirable perfumes is still our only goal venir, as the name Memo comes from memo- and we want them be more respectful of the ry. We want perfumes with an inner strength planet as well. Our Memo compositions use that gives its full presence through time and high quality ingredients, from sustainable perfumes likely to open the imagination. And plantations as much as possible, and we just never being afraid of new association of notes changed our packaging to reduce our impact and accords to make it even more surprising. on the environment. The fragrance market is broad – how do you Which Memo Paris scent is your personal stay relevant? By following our intuition and favourite and why? Irish Leather is a tribdesire, and not forecast trends! By staying ute to those beloved roots I talked about independent and free to decide on our own. earlier, and one of our signature fragrances How would you say the GCC region is differ- in the Cuirs Nomades collection, so I could ent from others in terms of fragrance? There pick up that one, special to me, but there is a strong culture of perfume in the Gulf are so many others I could choose! African region, a making savoir-faire, emblematic Leather, for its intensity and the fact that notes of wood, musk or incense, and popu- my mother lived in Kenya at her young age, lar ingredients like oud are part of the tradi- Eau de Memo which is our 10th anniversary tion and daily life, that we also appreciate birthday creation, French Leather which to work with regularly, so we feel instantly reminds me of Paris where we experienced connected! There is a sense of hospital- beautiful and intense years.