You’d think Scottish fragrance brand Jorum Studio would want its first London store, which opened in Marylebone last month, to be an ode to its heritage. But the space’s furniture and trinkets reveal design influences from all over the world.
“We have some craft pieces from modern Scottish makers, as well as some classics from [Glasgow-born architect and designer] Charles Rennie Mackintosh,” says the brand’s creative director Chloe Mullen, who runs Jorum Studio with partner and perfumer Euan McCall. “But we worked with a design partner called Studio Pneuma. They’re based in Copenhagen, so we’ve pulled a lot of Scandi influence, as well as some Japanese elements.”
Those come through in the Noguchi-esque lighting from Copenhagen-based design studio Christian & Jade and accessories from Copenhagen interiors brand Louise Roe. The bright and airy ground floor displays fragrances from the brand’s signature collections, Progressive Botany Vol I and Scottish Odyssey, as well as its latest launch, rice-based perfume Unspoken Gesture. But venturing downstairs unlocks a more intimate experience with soft lighting and amber undertones, emulating the same warm feeling imparted by a few sips of Macallan.
“We wanted downstairs to feel like it envelops you. You feel very cosy and very secure,” Mullen says. “It’s intentionally different to upstairs, you feel as if you’ve travelled somewhere else.”
The store’s woody accents and colour palette took inspiration from Klein House in Selkirk, a mid-century Scottish home commissioned by textile designer Bernat Klein and designed by architect Peter Womersley. The store’s pale blue and dandelion yellow walls reflect the colours found in the surrounding Scottish Borders.
Since Jorum Studio’s launch in 2019, the duo has manufactured fragrances in-house in Edinburgh – not far from the brand’s first store and flagship on St Stephen Street – using high-quality and natural ingredients. While celebrating Scottish craftsmanship and history is a pillar of the brand, Mullen says its vision is outward looking.
“It’s that idea of cultural connection and not just being proudly Scottish, how there’s connections across different cultures,” she says. “We like to bridge that gap.”
To mark its venture down south, Jorum Studio has released six scents exclusive to its London store, inspired by the stories and figures that connect the capital to Scotland. For example, Young Pretender honours Bonnie Prince Charlie and the striking painting that depicts him in Mount Street Restaurant’s Scottish Room, via heather, saffron and ambergris. Sherlock Holmes fans will be drawn to Study in Scarlet (the title of the first Sherlock Holmes book, written by Scotsman Arthur Conan Doyle), which has top notes of black tea.
“I like to walk around London whenever I can and stumble across intriguing places and things that spark my curiosity,” says McCall of the research that informed the collection. “Sometimes it’s in the form of a scent, such as the smell of roses in Regent’s Park, which inspired our fragrance Rose Regent, to more layered experiences, such as walking along New Bond Street in the pouring rain, reflecting on the iconography of the Mackintosh trench, a Scottish design classic, and its symbolism of London [which inspired the A New Bond fragrance].”
For Mullen, the new space brings exciting challenges. “London is like a coliseum,” she says. “It’s where you go to compete, and it’s make or break in a lot of ways, which I love. I love the pressure that we’re competing with brands that are very well established and have countless marketing budgets. What we do is so different, and we’re really excited to have that opportunity.”
Jorum Studio
2 Marylebone Street, W1G 8JQ
Hours:
Daily 10am–5pm
