This is an exciting time for Ormonde Jayne, a London-based perfumery. The company recently celebrated its seventh anniversary, and was nominated for Best Emerging British Luxury Brand by Walpole, a prestigious London-based organization that promotes British luxury brands. If that wasn’t news enough, Ormonde Jayne’s newest fragrance, Tiare, was also released in November.
I spoke with founder Linda Pilkington on a cold November night while she was staying at a hotel in the English countryside. She was very generous with her time and insights into her business, and we even shared a few laughs.
VD: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me; you must be super busy right now. The Walpole Awards are not that well known in the U.S. yet, but it’s a big honor in the UK. You must be excited.
LP: Yes, I am, although I don’t think we will win. We are up against some companies that get a lot of publicity.
VD: You are releasing Tiare this month, which is named after the Tahitian gardenia. How did Tiare come about?
LP: The idea was to create a fragrance you could wear all the time and in all seasons, and Tiare is just that.
VD: You’ve said your philosophy of perfumery is to create beautiful scents using specialty oils not widely used in the perfume industry today. Can you tell me more?
LP: We use different ingredients to open up a perfume, so you can smell everything coming through as it develops. When you use high-quality ingredients, the perfumes last longer and you can perhaps smell a little of it on your scarf the next day. High-quality oils are very expensive, but because we are small, we can work to get the perfume smelling the way we want, without the pressure that larger companies have to release their perfumes. We don’t launch a fragrance if it doesn’t work.
We have been very lucky in developing relationships in Grasse. We’ve received expert advice and consultations, and the companies we work with have accommodated my tiny orders. I still work with the companies I started out with, and am dedicated to the people I’ve worked with from the beginning.
