The Perfumer

Encens Chembur, one of the first Byredo perfumes, was inspired by Chembur, a suburb of Mumbai where Gorham's mother grew up

(Image credit: TBC)

A picnic spot in Chembur, a Mumbai suburb where Ben Gorham’s mother grew up, plays a major role in the perfume designer and entrepreneur’s olfactory story. Gorham – born in Stockholm and raised in the US and Canada before moving back to Europe – visited Chembur as a child, returning 15 years later to find the area densely developed but still aromatically permeated with the distinctive incense of his boyhood memories, emanating from a Hindu temple. When he started his Stockholm-based fragrance brand Byredo, the exotic Indian aroma became the inspiration for a perfume, Encens Chembur.

‘Making perfume is an emotional experience,’ explains Gorham. ‘For me it starts with a collection of inspirations – poetry, literary texts, art, anything that helps me communicate the ideas and feelings for a new fragrance.’

It was whilst reading fine art in Stockholm that Gorham had a chance meeting with Swedish perfumer Pierre Wulff and became fascinated. An interest grew into an obsession and then a brand… to support the obsession! Six years later it’s a global business.’ Gorham’s aim is to create beautifully packaged fragrances that are potent evocations of poignant moments.
‘ We focus on a select, small amount
of raw materials and let them speak
for themselves.’

Gorham visited Chembur as a child, and returned as a young adult to find the area had changed significantly, but he was struck by the distinctive aroma of incense from his boyhood memories

Groham explains how culture and the people he meets when he travels are a big inspiration in his work. 'When I am in New York to visit my parfumier Jerome Epinette, I am thrilled by the city’s energy and noise. These are the fragments that I bring home and try to translate into smells.’

'Being based in Stockholm is inspiring in different ways' says Gorham. 'There is a spirit of do-it-yourself that has been around for the last five or ten years'

Making perfume is an emotional experience,’ explains Gorham. ‘For me it starts with a collection of inspirations'

Creative director of Byredo — As creative director of Byredo, Gorham creates a brief for the perfumer. He explains, 'the brief consists of visual elements, texts, poetry, music - anything that helps me communicate an idea and a feeling that I want to capture in a fragrance.'

Process of modiifcations — The perfumer then realises Gorham's brief by creating a first version of the fragrance which undergoes a long process of modiifcations and testing; the modification process can take anything from six months up to five years to complete