Gala Colivet Dennison puts a unique spin on a signature Molton Brown Scent

Molton Brown may have achieved icon status as a luxury British fragrance brand, allowing perfumers to trust their instincts to create timeless, personal perfumes, but recently it’s embarked on a brand new era that aims to shake up its heritage. Part of this recently unveiled ‘new brand world’ involves handing over the reins to a trio of world-leading British creatives, who were each tasked with reimagining one of the brand’s iconic scents through their own artistic lens.

The initiative, dubbed Artists of Note, includes unique creative interpretations of some of Molton Brown’s most-loved perfumes by the London-based designer Nicholas Daley and punk poet John Cooper Clarke. Then, there’s jewellery designer Gala Colivet Dennison, who created a wearable piece of art inspired by the brand’s Rose Dunes scent.

Colivet Dennison’s design process brought several layers of personal memory together in one place. The powerful scents of her formative years in France were mixed with the inspirations of senior perfumer Phillippe Paparella – his grandmother’s rose crystal, and living in Dubai – resulting in a “visceral response” to the opulent, spiced notes of the perfume.

With notes of rose, saffron, patchouli, and oudh, Rose Dunes finds influence in desert landscapes, says Paparella: “There is the colour, the sensation of the heat.” Colivet Dennison’s work of art also nods to this source via ornate metalwork, incorporating a delicate weaving process. “There’s an infinity to the woven technique,” says the designer, “which paralleled with the sand and the desert.”

The creative pairing is appropriate, too. Like Molton Brown’s perfumers, Colivet Dennison often works intuitively, and each trinket or jewellery piece is unique, building upon the memories of its wearer. Then, there’s the physical aspect. Heat and even open flames are a familiar part of her practice as well, which involves the “very physical process” of soldering her pieces. It’s this heat, she notes, that finally binds everything together, just as several elements combine to form a signature scent.

Similarly, Molton Brown’s Artists of Note series unites numerous creative visions and artistic mediums in a big melting pot, celebrating the artistry of its skilled perfumers, just as much as it offers inspiration to artists themselves. Read more about John Cooper Clarke and Nicholas Daley’s contributions to the project here and here, and go to moltonbrown.co.uk to discover more.

Shop Rose Dunes above.