Perle Magazine - Spring 2018 Perle Magazine - Spring 2018 | Page 75

P
erfume, for many, is considered
more than a fragrant mist they spray
upon themselves before stepping
out. Scents invoke feelings they can
identify with, and wearers use perfumes
to awaken their senses. They personalize
and identify with certain fragrances and
claim them as their ‘signature’. Perfume,
for many, is almost like a second skin they
cannot leave their homes without. Whether
it is the powdery scented veil or a strong
musk that fills the air, each scent carries
with it a personality that the wearer adopts
and, in turn, giving that scent a bit of their
own personality too, forming a beautifully
complex and close relationship with their
chosen fragrance. Understanding the
importance of having such a scent for each
person, the London-based, family-owned
perfumery, Grossmith, has worked tirelessly
for almost two centuries to create perfumes
that serve as a part of the wearer’s identity
and, in some way, represents a segment
of their persona. Bringing the luxe
perfumes to the region through her elegant
multi-brand gift store, Trousseau, Nancy Al
Zain works closely with the Brooke family
to bring the unique story and scent of
Grossmith to Bahrain.
Simon, Amanda, Kate, and Eleanor
Founding the business in 1835, John
Grossmith created the perfumery out of his
passion for elegant and luxurious scents
inspired from his travels across the world.
The carefully curated perfume formulae
were designed in a manner that were able
to bottle the spirit of the Victorian Era and
soon were renowned for their redolence
of quintessential England. The business
was run successfully for three generations
and headed by the second generation
John Lipscomb Grossmith who, in his time,
was not only a perfumer, but a designer,
innovator, and a great marketeer. His
passion towards the business evolved the
Grossmith enterprise into something that
not only produced perfumes, toothpaste
and soaps, but was also a major importer
of raw materials from around the world,
which were then converted into oils and
essences and sold to other perfume
houses in London - becoming one of the
largest perfume, toiletries, raw materials
businesses operating in the world. The
business was then taken over by his son
Stanley Grossmith, who like his father,
was also a greatly trained perfumer, and
throughout their leadership the business
saw great prosperity as they were awarded
many accolades, such as being awarded
a prize medal in 1851 for perfumery and
essential oils at the Great Exhibition. They
were one of a very few English companies
to compete successfully with the French
perfume houses who were considered the
leaders of the industry at the time. Their
achievements also included Royal Warrants
in the early 1900s by Queen Alexandra and
Royal Courts of Greece and Spain, before
ultimately seeing a decline during WW1
and WW2 when the materials required to
produce perfumes became unavailable.
SPRING 2018
Perle
75