OUR FRAGRANT HERITAGE
When we think of the great fragrance houses, our minds may wander across the water to France or the sunny climes of Italy (both of whom regularly duke it out while laying claim to being ‘the birthplace of perfumery’). But for the sheer number of historical perfume houses still flourishing – and an everburgeoning number of new perfumers and fledgling niche brands, many of them independently owned – here at The Perfume Society, we wanted to dedicate a large chunk of this issue to those who are flying the flag for British fragrance. This edition of the magazine could easily have become an encyclopaedia, actually. But we invite you to explore Britain’s amazing fragrant heritage over the following pages – including a quintessential scent suggestion for each perfume house that to us, captures their magic.
12 The scented Letter
Floris’s flagship, top, is barely changed from the picture on the opposite page. It was recently refitted (retaining many Listed elements of the interior) – but few would guess that two floors
below the parquet floor is ‘the mine’, where fragrances were once bottled on-site – as Michael Bodenham (ancestor of current Perfumery Director Edward) can be seen doing, above