MEMO was born in a chairlift. That’s where Clara Molloy and her husband John met, ‘between sky and earth, between two worlds, in that weightless space that brings out one’s daring side and broadens horizons’.
They fell in love – and launched a wanderlust-inspired fragrance house: MEMO, which captures the spirit of lands both near (think: Ireland, which inspired Irish Leather) and far (think Ilho do Mel, their honey-drizzled latest, ‘an island of sugary sweetness with the curvaceous outline of a whale’, in which honey has an exotic encounter with mandarin, and juniper and vanilla compound the intrigue.
As she breezed through London lately, we met up with Clara – and asked her to share her five favourite smells in the world…
1. Myrrh. ‘It is one of the oldest scents, and we use it in all of MEMO‘s creations. It represents spirituality…’
2. Parisian stone. ‘This brings back memories of living in Paris, where the apartment buildings all have beautiful courtyards which you enter via stone arches. I could always tell when it was raining from the smell of the stone.’
3. Dark chocolate. ‘My family is from Catalonia, and always make hot chocolate with rich, dark chocolate – so think you can’t really drink it, only spoon it into your mouth…’
4. Juniper berries. ‘An interesting berry that makes its way into scents and alcohol and food. It makes things sparkle: it’s like my Champagne.’
5. Maté powder. ‘I love all things Japanese and particularly green tea – I have a wide collection of different green teas at home. Matt powder’s a key element of the taste and smell of green tea – and we’ve included it in a few of MEMO‘s fragrances…’
Explore MEMO fragrances in the UK at Harvey Nichols
Written by Carson Parkin-Fairley
