Byredo’s Ben Gorham talks about his new fragrance, the relationship between memory and perfume, and staying away from Indian clichés.
Byredo’s Ben Gorham talks about his new fragrance, the relationship between memory and perfume, and staying away from Indian clichés.
Memories are powerful, especially when they evoke a variety of senses and feelings. So, it should come as no surprise that Ben Gorham, the founder of perfume brand Byredo, has fond memories of the time he spent with his grandmother in Chembur for the company’s latest fragrance, Mumbai Shore.
Gorham – born in Stockholm and raised in New York and Toronto – had visited the suburbs of Mumbai, where his mother grew up as a child. Fifteen years later, when he saw it again, much had changed, but many of the things that pervaded his memory, such as the incense from a neighboring temple, had not.
Ben Gorham | photo credit: Matthew Salving
“All my inspirations for making perfume [approximately priced between ₹11,000 to ₹20,000] are associated with personal memories – the places of my childhood, the specific moments of my life,” says the Swedish native, who has been translating the memories into much-loved scents since 2006. They call it a completely subjective, abstract, esoteric process, which (for him, at least) is facilitated by being in one place. “Sweden has somehow focused my mind and let it wander at the same time.”
a city that always gives
For Mumbai Shore, Gorham has used strong fragrances such as medicine (a herbaceous plant native to South India), sandalwood, and even coffee together. “The olfactory approach is one of contrasts and contrasts. It’s an amber aroma with rich, warm wood, plumage with sparkle medicine Positioned with leather, bitter coffee with sweet Tonka beans,” he says. “It’s an aroma that grabs your attention and instantly envelops your senses. This is how I feel when I’m in Mumbai, at my family’s home – I wanted the tremendous power of a place to come out. ,
Advancing Your Competitive Side
Gorham, known for perfumes such as Gypsy Water, Bal d’Afrique and Velvet Haze, was not ready to become a fragrance lover, starting his career as a basketball player. He links his past to his current role (he became fascinated by perfume after a chance meeting with Swedish perfumer Pierre Wolf), saying, “I quit basketball because of red tape. But it taught me discipline and made me competitive.” Which are skills you need when you’re an entrepreneur, but definitely an outsider.” It paid off. Fragrance brands with ‘cool credits’ – Virgil Abloh’s off-the-shelf in their collab White and Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack — has doubled its pre-pandemic sales to $134 million, according to a business of fashion report good.
This isn’t the first time the city has inspired them, with Byredo having previously released Ensens Chembur in 2008, a discontinued fragrance featuring temple incense, amber ginger and bergamot, which she describes as “one of the most captivating memories of what I captured at the time.” a picture”.
For Gorham, her grandmother’s death put an end to her holiday trips.
From Mumbai Shore Campaign | photo credit: Ashish Shah
But when he returned to the country in his 20s, he remembered that “as soon as I got off the plane, I was taken back to being a kid and I could immediately picture and feel of being home with my family. India means home to me – not a home like home, but home as a part of where I belong, and most importantly, where my family and my mother are part of.”
Exploring India’s Diversity
What is the difference between Ensemble Chembur and Mumbai Shore? “India runs very subtly in everything I do. The noise of Mumbai began to grow in my mind as a never-ending film and not as a picture of the past. Consequently, the new fragrance is a dialogue with contemporary India, as seen in its campaign shot by photographer Ashish Shah.
“I was attracted by the modernity and reality of Ashish’s work, and his distinctive outlook on my country. Beyond the smell, I wanted the campaign to capture the hearts and minds of contemporary India,” says Gorham. “Mumbai has evolved at an astonishing pace – it has changed significantly over the years where I haven’t been – yet the way the rest of the world continues to portray India is so cliche.”
not just fragrance
The man who famously doesn’t wear perfume—he only applies it when creating a fragrance with his perfumer Jerome Epinet—is expanding his empire. In 2019, he launched Byproduct, to fit all his non-olfactory ideas. They’ve brought in products like sneakers, eyewear, jeans and home accessories, have dived into collabs with Ikea (on a line of candles) and Stockholm Surfboard Club (for a clothing line), and most recently, cosmetics and Started skin care. Her line with makeup artist Ismaya French is fun and irreverent, with eyeshadow palettes called Corporate Colors, curved claw-shaped mascara tubes, and multifunctional color sticks “made specifically for experimentation” in shades like Reptile Green.
Shah worked with local dancers, artists, models and drag artists for months to create a contemporary portrait of modern India that had been stripped of stereotypes.
The brand will soon launch its first store in the country at Jio World Drive in Mumbai. “We always create space for people to feel and see different textures and colors, something that can excite and soothe at the same time. All the products are meant to be picked up and played with – it’s an interactive and Informal place.”
Mumbai Noise, priced at Rs 18,900 (100 ml), will be available on Jio World Drive.