Byredo's Founder Ben Gorham Talks His New Nature-Inspired Scent
Swedish luxury house Byredo has been around since 2006 (you’ve no doubt seen their candles and creams in the apartments of people you’re jealous of) with Ben Gorham at the helm. He first became interested in scent making after a trip to his mother’s hometown in India and has since developed some of the most recognizable scented candles and perfumes on the market.
Gorham recently unveiled his latest scent, Eleventh Hour. “Eleventh Hour is the story of the end of the world and the period of time just before that,” Gorham says. “We incorporated regional ingredients native to the highest place on earth in Nepal, a very extreme location, to paint that picture.”
There is a real back to nature trend in fragrance and desire for simple, clean smells. Brands and designers like Glossier, Le Labo, Jo Malone, Martin Margiela, Bulgari, and even Virgil Abloh (his collaboration with Byredo was called Elevator Music) have created popular barely-there scents inspired by elements found in nature. “The idea of the outdoors as an escape offers a level of comfort in a time of uncertainty,” he says.
This element of uncertainty is best embodied in another one of the brand’s scents (and one of the most popular) titled Apocalyptic. Their latest scent was created to be its counterpoint. “The Apocalyptic candle is based around the concept of the end of the world and the unknown. It represents feelings of despair and insecurity in what the future holds,” he says. “Eleventh Hour really explores this idea of hope and escapism. People have not been that hopeful with the direction that we’re going as a society and I think this project highlights that emotion, and maybe the end of that feeling.”
Gorham recently opened a camping-inspired space in Paris’ Le Marais. The pine-clad pop-up shop is designed to represent an outdoor environment without losing the brand’s luxury feel. “A lot of these items are ones I obsess over; such as hiking boots specifically I buy, collect and hoard,” he says. “The store itself uses Swedish pine which is a call back to my roots in Sweden.”
Shop Byredo's new arrivals here.
