Last week I was asked to contribute to a fascinating day called Scents of Time and Place - Why our Olfactory Heritage Matters ?
Held at the RSA the day, organised by IFRA, brought together the team behind the Odeuropa project, which has mapped Europe's intangible scent heritage alongside those working in cultural heritage, academia and the perfume industry.
I was proud to contribute a little about our own perfume heritage, as a second generation family business celebrating this our 40th year, alongside other British perfume brands Floris, now established for 290 years and in the 9th generation of the family, and Yardley, originally established 250 years ago and at one point not far from us in Stratford, where the famous Yardley Lavender girl can be seen in tiles on their original factory building.
The day was a fascinating insight into how smell links us to places and from a more scientific perspective covered smellscapes - scent mapping of different locations around the world, olfactory installations to reflect the immediate environment and the recreation of a Lost Scent with essences retrieved from the Titanic.
My thanks to Amanda Carr of We Wear Perfume for chairing the day so expertly and bringing together such a diverse and interesting group of speakers, and for inviting us at Angela Flanders to be part of such a memorable event.
