One of Lyn Harris’s most distinctive qualities as a perfumer is her ability to transform some of the most mundane aspects of everyday life – salt, ink, steam – into convention-defining scents that express her unique sensibility as a nose.
Inside Aaron Angell's London ceramics studio, Troy Town
Her new fragrance, Clay, sees Harris draw inspiration from the most fundamental aspect of everyday life, yet to create what she calls her 'translation of the earth.' At its heart is a baked clay accord she developed as the olfactory embodiment of the material’s transformation from malleable substance to a permanent work of art--notes of sandalwood evoke the creaminess of soft clay, while ambroxan provides a touch of minerality; maltol adds a toasted quality that amplifies the impression of clay being fired, while orange flower threads throughout to create a subtle brightness.
The Perfumer H x Troy Town collaboration on display inside Perfumer H's London store
To complement the launch, Harris collaborated with Aaron Angell, founder of the London ceramics studio Troy Town, to create ceramic versions of Perfumer H’s signature bottles, which will be displayed in Perfumer H stores alongside a select number of other ceramic pieces from Angell’s studio.
The Perfumer H x Troy Town collaboration on display inside Perfumer H's London store
Working with Angell felt like a natural choice for Harris, who has long used Perfumer H as a platform to celebrate the work of other artists. ‘Troy Town and Aaron are completely unique and born out of Aaron’s love of old whimsical Victorian ceramics fused with his love of traditional Japanese Oribe ceramics and how he adapts this methodology to his work,’ says Harris. ‘ I just fell in love with this unconventional way of thinking and totally love his ideas behind each piece.’
The Perfumer H x Troy Town collaboration on display inside Perfumer H's London store
Harris’s collaboration follows similar partnerships she’s done with Studio Nicholson (creating the Soap fragrance alongside a small apparel capsule by Nicholson), Will Calver (who created paintings inspired by Harris’s Rose with Insect perfume), and Michael Ruh (who hand-blows glass vessels for some of the brand’s fragrances), among many others.
Perfumer H founder, Lyn Harris, alongside the Troy Town collaboration
Harris's collaborative process with each artist is different. 'I work to the temperament and rhythm of each artist,’ she says. ‘With Aaron, I gave him the bottle and a sample of the fragrance and gave him free rein to translate as he saw fit.'
A close-up of the one of techniques Angell used for the Perfumer H collaboration
'Then 3 months later I got these incredible pieces that just blew me away. He told me the clay he used was created with feldspar to give it texture, and then he dipped the glaze with pine needle ash before firing to, as Aaron says, create colours with this peacock effect, creating something which is unique to Troy Town.'
