Simon, Kate, Amanda, and Nancy Al Zain at the event hosted by Trousseau at The Orangery
The legacy of Grossmith perfumes may have been buried at the time, but did not die, as years later, it was revived by Simon Brooke who came across his family history due to his interest in genealogy. His findings led him to the path that allowed him to trace back his family’ s history to their Grossmith roots and managed to acquire the rights to bring the company back into his family once again in 2007, with the support of his wife Amanda and daughters Kate and Eleanor. Working previously in real estate, Simon says it was the magnetism of the perfume industry, but also realizing the colossal effort and dedication it would require to once again bring to life Grossmith perfumery. Working diligently to do just that, Grossmith perfumes were once again introduced to the market, with the same values, regal and historical luxurious elements that drove them to success in the past, but with a contemporary touch.“ We have made a few changes over the years. But we are made in England, that is a hallmark of our brand. We are an English perfume house, and we are very proud of our heritage and history and almost feel empowered by the success of our forefathers to bring it forward with the same passion and enthusiasm that they had when they building the brand 180 years ago.”
Delving deep into the crevices of the Grossmith history and heritage, it was important to maintain the authenticity of the brand, which is derived from its beautiful scents, the chic exterior of the bottles, and it’ s deep rooted past, and the Brooke family mastered the aesthetic of the brand and ensured that the Grossmith signature remained. Simon was fortunate to have come across a book for formulae which contained hundreds of original recipes, and used those to bring back the signature scents of Shem-el-Nessim( inspired by Egypt), Phul-Nana( inspired from India), and Hasu-no-Hana, and Betrothal which celebrated the engagement of Princess May of Teck and the Duke of York in 1893. The power and nature of the originally created scents is so strong, that when the family opened a bottle of perfume from 120 years ago to try and replicate the scent, the perfume smelled just as good, in particular the base notes. Working with the older and more famous scents initially, Simon refers to what his great great uncle said in 1897,“ the creation of a new fragrance is a rarity and should be linked to an astronomer finding a new planet. It is that rare, and that special.” Working in a parallel fashion to the great perfumer John Grossmith, who took great delight and passion in sampling new smells from all over the world, Simon says that though they took different paths into the world of perfumers, they share the same passion for creating scents. As the older scents were revived, they still carry modern elements, as today they are designed for the modern wearer. The beauty, however, of each of these scents is that they have a story of their own and as the wearers use these scents, they develop that story and make it theirs.
SPRING 2018
Perle 77