Today marks the beginning of National Fragrance Week, a celebration and promotion of the perfume industry. Over the next seven days you will see companies vying for your attention with events and special offers so, to ease you in gently, I thought that I would take a look back at six of my favourite “Stephan’s Six” interviews from the past two years. I advise you to hold on tight as we revisit Jo Fairley, Lawrence Roullier-White, Liz Moores, Michael Angove, Monsieur Guerlain and Odette Toilette to discover their scented secrets.
Somerset House in London has to be one of the most beautiful venues for any exhibition, but it's even better on a hot summer evening. This is how it was on Tuesday when I visited the new installation simply entitled PERFUME. With a tag line describing it as “a sensory journey through contemporary scent” I really had no idea what to expect. Except for a few slips from Lizzie Ostrom, aka Odette Toilette, during a day out with baby Ostrom it was a total surprise. So, was my original impression that it covered everything from "semen to cookies" correct? Come with me into a "world of pure imagination".
The Jasmine Awards celebrate the very best writing in the field of fragrance and this year the competition was particularly tough. First launched in 1990, the Jasmine Awards have helped to launch the careers of many new writers and, across fourteen categories, some of the United Kingdom’s finest authors take away with them the beautiful Lalique trophy and a well deserved pat on the back. Four of this year's winners have also taken part in “Stephan’s Six” and so what better time to look back over these enlightening, and at times humorous, set of interviews. Grab a cup of tea, a digestive biscuit and prepare yourself for anything!
Fragrance has always been regarded as one of the best triggers for our memories, but we sometimes forget just how much trouble it can get us into as well. Perfume on a collar, whisky on your breath, cigarette smoke in the air. One lady who put fragrance to full use was the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie. In three of her books it is the scent, and even the lack of it, that helps Poirot's "little grey cells" to solve the mystery. With "scented" book suggestions by Agatha Christie expert John Curran, along with contributions from Nick Gilbert, Odette Toilette and Luca Turin, let's look at those stories and, alongside a perfume suggestion for each crime, we'll investigate the Scent of Murder!
What is there left to say about Odette Toilette that hasn't been said already? Well, her real name is Lizzie Ostrom and she has the craziest approach to "perfume appreciation" that you could ever hope to experience. Her sold-out "scratch and sniff" events are now legendary, and she is also the author of A Century Of Scents, a stroll through one hundred years of perfume. With herself as the subject for a change, what would she make of "Stephan's Six"?
When Lizzie Ostrom (aka Odette Toilette) first told me that she was writing a book about perfume I remember thinking, how will you get the character of this eccentric into print? Lizzie is anything but predictable, and she has made her reputation by taking perfume and turning it on its head. Anyone who has witnessed her in action knows that her quirky style and approachable manner is what keeps you coming back for more. So, would this translate into print? There have many dry, dusty and pretentious books about perfume over the years which use language that even Countdown's Dictionary Corner would struggle with, but this is not one of them.
