In conversation: Rebecca Rose from To The Fairest
Please introduce yourself in 3 sentences:
I’m Rebecca Rose, founder and creative director of independent British fragrance brand To The Fairest. The brand takes its name from the words inscribed on a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides: the apple represented beauty, knowledge and power. This classic motif celebrates woman as muse - embodying the arts, imparting wisdom and inspiring creation - a powerful emblem that I hope connects with our beautiful fragrances.
How and with whom do you create your fragrances?
Our first four fragrances were made with creative perfumer Penny Williams. She has an extraordinary ability to tap into the odour profile that best connects with the concept behind each scent. Our collaborative process began with a visual mood board, a soundscape, and a visualisation of the person who would wear the scent. I had specific notes in mind, which Penny would then interpret into a multifaceted composition.
Any favourite perfume or one that has a particular memory you’d like to share?
I don’t have a favourite scent, although one that always brings a smile to my lips is Caron’s Délire de Roses. On the surface it’s very innocent, but something strange happens to me when I wear this fragrance - I end up having the most surreal and unforgettable evenings.
Any perfumer / artist / person you’d like to collaborate with on a fragrance?
I would love to collaborate with Nikita Gill, a brilliant poet whose retellings of ancient myths are utterly compelling. I also hope to create more fragrances for hotels - To The Fairest offers a ’scentscaping’ service for venues and events and this part of the business is growing quite quickly.
Not All Girls Are Made of Sugar by Nikita Gill
“Not all girls are made of sugar
and spice and all things nice.
These are girls made of dark lace
and witchcraft and a little bit of vice.
These are daughters made claw first
and story-mad, tiger roar and wolf-bad.
These are women made of terrible tempests
and savage storms and the untamed unwanted.
These are damsels made of flawless fearlessness
made of more bravery than knights have ever seen.
These are princesses made of valour and poison alike
and they are here to hold court as your queens.”
If you weren’t in the fragrance industry, which industry would you like to be in?
Career Plan B was / is a speech therapist. I read modern languages and linguistics at university and have always been fascinated by speech rehabilitation programmes. I’ve been looking at ways to train alongside my career in perfumery.
Is there anything you would do differently if you had start all over again, and is there anything you would change in the industry?
There isn’t a great deal I would change, even the heinous mistakes have been educational! I’ve made massive blunders but these have been compensated by the sheer joy the comes with the moments when I get it right. I’m very proud of the fact that we have an incredibly loyal and supportive customer base, that our products have won awards across the most prestigious categories in the industry, and I’m excited for the brand’s future.
Previously, I worked in academia and then on the periphery of the fashion industry, sourcing vintage clothes and textiles for retail and design teams. By contrast, the fragrance industry is incredibly welcoming, collaborative and inclusive. Scent is a creative expression and there is room for everybody, so I’m not sure there is much I would change about the industry. Niche fragrance is not just accepted, but heralded as a bellwether. Niche, prestige and mass sectors have a lot to learn from each other.
Any upcoming project / launch you want to share?
To The Fairest is currently working on a new Eau de Parfum called Oracle, due to launch soon. A crisp, gender-neutral rose inspired by the ritual of insight at Delphi. It’s the scent I am most proud of, and can’t wait to share it.
Tune of the day: Parallelograms by Linda Perhacs
Fragrance of the day: Cécile Eau de Parfum by To The Fairest. This beautiful summery scent transports me to the French Riviera. It’s our best-selling fragrance and has notes of bergamot, mandarin, amber and coconut. Irresistible.
You can purchase To The Fairest Sample Discovery Set here
A few of August’s highlights in short form:
Shiseido’s shares plunged c. 16% on August 7th 2024, their steepest single day slide since 1987, following the announcement of their mid-year results which were weighed down by a production decline in the US and slowing Chinese consumer demand
Estée Lauder Companies reported a c. 2% decrease in net sales for FY 2024, dropping from $15.91bn to $15.61bn, partly driven by weaker consumer demand in China and a decline in Asia travel retail. Whilst net sales in the skin care, makeup, and hair care segments decreased, fragrance net sales increased by 2%, largely driven by ELC’s luxury brands such as Le Labo and Jo Malone
Coty’s FY 2024 results showed a c. 10% increase in total net revenues, outpacing the global beauty market growth, with net revenues for all of Coty’s largest Prestige fragrance brands growing by a mid-single to double-digit percentage
With fragrance as one of the fastest-growing prestige beauty category in the first half of 2024 and an ever more curious consumer base, an increasingly diverse range of companies are venturing into the space, ranging from American men’s magazine Esquire, to circus producer Cirque du Soleil, to fast food chain KFC with their now sold out Eau de BBQ. Read more in Emily Jensen’s piece
Dolce & Gabbana launches a €99 dog fragrance, inspired by D&G co-founder Domenico Dolce’s “love for his loyal dog Fefé”
Industry retirements
Anne Kirby, Chanel’s president of fragrance and beauty, to retire at end of 2024, after 35 years at the luxury house
Fabrizio Freda, Estée Lauder Companies’ President and CEO since 2009, announces intention to retire at end of FY 2025
My fragrance of the day: 724 by Maison Francis Kurkdjian - lime zest opening, light green apple, bar soap, light talc powder, warm musk, heavy flour and rich oily texture
Is Mexico the next great fragrance market? by Emily Jensen
The Financial Times on the fragrance sector’s double digit growth
Lej da Staz, Switzerland, June 2024
- Flo