Founded by Sir Paul Smith over 50 years ago and still headed by the designer, his namesake line is commonly known for injecting witty playfulness into all aspects of the brand. Best known for its menswear, the line also offers womenswear and accessories.
Wanting to step into the world of fragrance, rather than perfume, the designer chose to set the scene in his customers living spaces with a line of home fragrance.
Candles and diffusers are housed in bold, two-tone coloured glass vessels that are intended to be repurposed after use after your remove the leftover wax or empty the diffuser. For example, the diffuser can be used as a vase and the candle, a jar. Each comes with a lid which doubles as a coaster to protect surfaces from heat and spills.
Paul Smith Bookworm Candle and Diffuser
Four scents are included in the collection, each based on a series of Paul’s most evocative memories and offering an olfactory journey into the designer’s world.
The scents have been crafted by tIFF (International Flavors and Fragrances) perfumers Meabh McCurtin and Céline Barel.
“The journey I’ve been on to create the fragrances has been a fascinating one, guided by some incredible perfumiers,” says Smith.
“I have really enjoyed the process of working with Meabh and Céline and it gave me the chance to reflect on some of my favourite memories, moments, and places in a new way.”
The designer says the creative process didn’t end with the fragrance.
“I was always very keen to place a lot of focus and time on the design of the vessels themselves,” he says.
“I really enjoy the combination of colour and light in the containers, and I hope that they will become keepsakes in their own right.”
Paul Smith Botanist Candle and Diffuser
There are four scent offerings, each in different coloured glass:
- Botanist, which is inspired by the clean-cut tailoring at Paul’s first Nottingham shop, evokes freshly-cut grass and greenery, and contains notes of Haitian vetiver, moss and lemon.
- Bookworm, a scent that is reminiscent of the stacks of books and papers in Paul’s office and evokes libraries and warming amber. It is formulated with Jamaican pimento berry, grapefruit and cedarwood.
- Early Bird, which recalls the reclaimed iron railings at Paul’s London shop and is designed to recreate the scent of rain falling on wet pavements on a cloudy morning. It is blended with notes of Indonesian patchouli oil, iris and rain accord.
- Daydreamer, a scent that is inspired by Paul’s long summer holidays and evokes walled herb gardens and cycling through sunny fields at golden hour. It is made with French lavender oil, clary sage and verbena.
Each uses specially selected ingredients include fine natural oils sourced from LMR Natural (Laboratoire Monique Remy), one of the world’s most renowned purveyors of raw materials with a long history of supplying the very best perfumers in the world.
The candles and diffusers are available from MECCA now.
