Thursday 12 March 2020

GFT by Geo F Trumper

When a new fragrance company launches into an already overcrowded marketplace it is important that it starts to create a history from the outset. It’s this story that the brand will be able to build on as it hopefully progresses. Unfortunately the loyalty of a customer to a brand is not as all-encompassing as it once was and so many, regratably, won’t survive. The days of a diehard commitment to a company have gone, so those that have already secured this have a huge advantage. Geo F Trumper has an impressive history stretching back to 1875 but this year sees the twentieth anniversary of the much younger GFT.

The launch of Trumper’s, as the company is more affectionately known, coincided with some interesting times for the United Kingdom. Queen Victoria was in the fifty sixth year of her reign, Benjamin Disraeli was Prime Minister and was facing tough questions over the Suez Canal, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial By Jury premiered, and the age of consent was raised from twelve to thirteen! It was into this political climate that Mr George F Trumper started his hairdressing business at 9 Curzon Street in London’s Mayfair. Very quickly he secured a reputation for excellence and the history of the company seemed secure.

The success led on to the company expanding its barbershop products to include colognes. These premade fragrances proved very popular and eventually resulted in the ultimate accolade of the time, the company was asked to create bespoke scents for some of its wealthier clients. Trumper’s became part of a group that included Floris and Penhaligons, with each populating London’s high society with the finest fragrances. Some of these custom blends are now available in the boutique, although what the original wearers would think I daren’t even consider. The company’s catalogue of fragrances is long but it’s always a pleasure to explore them.

To celebrate the company’s 125th birthday, Trumper’s decided to create a new scent to join their existing line up. It needed to be respectful of the brand's history but also offer a modern touch for “today’s discerning gentleman.” As the celebration fell at the beginning of 2000, a brand new century, the decision was taken to offer an uplifting and inspirational fragrance that would send even the most serious city-slicker off with a spring in his step. The previous notable release had been Ajaccio Violets in 1995, which was a wonderfully confident floral, and so this meant that GFT promised to take a very different direction.

It opens wonderfully crisply, and you would expect that from the combination of lemon and bergamot, but you immediately start to get the herbaceous notes from the centre in the form of lavender. There’s also a whisper of cypress in here that helps to push the green quality of the citrus but it never intrudes. Now this bright aromatic opening is smoothed with a very graceful pairing of skin-soft musk and cedarwood, so you’re put in mind of linen suits and sharpened pencils, and there’s even an aquatic nuance that keeps the whole fragrance buoyant. With a final touch of peppery moss, I think that Mr Trumper would have been very proud of this.

GFT is available from the website at trumpers.com priced at £44 for 50ml and is also available as a body wash and shaving cream.

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