Autumn 26

Autumn 26 is a moonlit fragrance of heather and peat, with the smudged, spacious quality of twilight.

This is our interpretation of a fougère, the classic fragrance category that is meant to smell like ferns feel. Our fougère is all shimmering lilac tones, with a brushed characteristic - a textural fragrance, shaped by how the land holds scent as it cools.

We begin with the wild herbs that grow among the heather, pairing two lavenders. The variety called Maillette, sometimes English lavender in gardening, was specially developed in the 1950s to yield a sophisticated, intensely aromatic oil for use in fine fragrance. With its soft, honeyed florality, ours is grown by a fourth-generation farming family in Provence’s highlands.

We matched our lavender Maillette with lavandin, a naturally occurring hybrid with a more herbaceous character. The lavenders melt into geranium and fennel - these green, textured notes lifted by a breath of bergamot.

Fougères are green, cool and a little mysterious, with a powdery element. We addressed these qualities with a braid of orris and violet leaf woven through the heart. Rooted to the soil, this pairing evokes a subtle leafiness, which we shaded with a new ingredient in our palette: cypriol. Blended with the quiet richness of oakmoss alongside our orris and violet, it brings a beautiful suede-like texture, like a well-worn glove left in the heather - or the shifting coat of a running hare.

Turning back to the sun-dried heather itself, growing from the rich peaty soil of the moor, we lit upon another ingredient new to us: immortelle. Called ‘gold sun’ by the Ancient Greeks, its small yellow flowers are ubiquitous around the Mediterranean, as is its earthy, heathery scent.

Finishing with coumarin, found naturally in tonka bean and hay, we have the backbone of our fougère - its powdered, amber warmth binding the aromatic notes of the herbs to the mossy earth.