Co-creative directors Harry Lambert and Molly Hawkins speak to Dazed about the trio of scents and debunk the idea that they are inspiredย by ๐ e๐ฅ
Two years ago, almost to the day,ย Harry Stylesย launched the news of his beauty and apparel line Pleasing in hisย cover interviewย for Dazed. Debuting with aย set of nail polishes, a serum, and a lip and eye โpenโ, the brandโs mission statement was to bring joyful experiences and products that excite the senses to Stylesโ loyal fans. โIโve always found that the moments in my life which have brought me the most joy are the small ones,โ he told Dazed at the time. โI really think that the essence of Pleasing is finding those little moments of joy and showing them to people.โ
Since then, Pleasing has expanded its offerings, branching out into make-up and bodycare, while always remaining true to its playful, experience-led approach โ a psychedelic,ย mushroom-theme collectionย saw a 74-year-old Mick Fleetwood star as the face of the campaign. And now the brand has broached its next frontier, fragrance, withย a trio of eau de parfumsย inspired by a series of warm, joyous moments and housed in chic, rounded bottles that gently rock back and forth. Thereโs โClosenessโ which recalls the evening after a long warm day and โskin pressed against skinโ; โBright, Hotโ, described as basking in the hot sun; and โRivuletsโ, a โdelightful encounter with a strangerโฆ floating like tiny specks caught dancing in the slanting light.โ
โI was really surprised when I smelled them for the first time โ they have a lot of depth and emotional resonance that I wasnโt expecting because itโs not very on-trend,โ says Molly Hawkins who, alongside Stylesโ long-time stylistย Harry Lambert, holds the role of creative director at Pleasing. The fragrances themselves were a collaboration between Styles and Jeฬroฬme Epinette โ the nose behind scents like Byredoโs Sundazed and Off-Whiteโs Solution No 2 โ alongside fragrance house Robertet.
While One Direction had a slew of perfumes in its heyday and Styles has previously been the face of Gucciโs Mรฉmoire dโune Odeur fragrance, whichย he described as smellingย like โJoan Didionโs houseโ, this is the first time heโs truly had a hand in the creative process of a scent. Itโs welcome news for fans who have long yearned to smell like the star,ย selling out dupesย of his once signature scent Tom Fordโs Tobacco Vanille.
After a back and forth process between him and Epinette, going through โdozens of iterationsโ of scents, the pair landed on the final three. Hawkins and Lambert then brought their magic touch to the visuals and packaging, which stay true to the brandโs elevated nostalgic aesthetic. โI quickly realised the fragrances are expressive and we should apply the same process we use when working on music to tease out their stories and visual identities,โ Hawkins says.
Here the two spoke to Dazed about their creative process, favourite fragrance and why itโs a misconception that the collection is โ๐ e๐ฅ-inspiredโ.
Harry Styles is known for his influence when it comes to fragrance, but this is the first time heโs putting his own name to a scent. Why was now a good time to launch a fragrance?
Harry Lambert:ย Pleasing is coming up to its two-year anniversary and while we are taking our time to evolve the world of Pleasing this feels like the right time to release something new and exciting. For me, this is my favourite product we have developed, the non-labelling of the bottle, the rocking which brings life to it, the colour play on the packaging, I am so, so proud of these three rocking bottles.
What was exciting is that the fragrance results were a surprise, this is something HS worked on with Jeฬroฬme and they have truly come from their combined collaboration. Then Molly and the team and I got to create visuals and packaging for those scents from Harryโs inspirations and memories. Harry does have great influence and what an exciting thing it is to experience something that he has dreamt of.
Before they launched, the fragrances were widely reported as being โ๐ e๐ฅ-inspiredโ, but actually they seem to be more about warmth and closeness. Can you tell us a bit about what you see as being the concept behind the fragrance?
Molly Hawkins:ย The โ๐ e๐ฅ-inspiredโ narrative came from a tabloid reacting to the copy on our sample cards that customers were receiving early on, before any announcements were made and I can see why; people often confuse a sensual experience with a ๐ e๐ฅual one (and of course they are often intertwined). These fragrances to me are not about ๐ e๐ฅ but more about time and how memory distorts oneโs senses. I really agree with your assessment, actually that theyโre more about warmth and closeness.When smelling the fragrances we began to imagine one long day. When you smell โBright, Hotโ where is the sun in the sky? What do you see when you open your eyes smelling โRivuletsโ? How does your skin feel when you smell โClosenessโ? In fact we were asking and answering these questions as we were naming the fragrances and designing the bottles, so the story is told with every part of the experience of the fragrance.
The design and campaign of the scents plays with nostalgia and the elevated seventies style that Harry and the brand has become known for. Why is that an aesthetic that continues to inspire you and that you keep going back to?ย
Molly Hawkins:ย We love storytelling and perspective so we always work with photographers who excite us and whoโs work speaks to the product weโre working on. Grant Spanier for example shot the fragrance campaign. He has an edge to him while still luxuriating in colour and texture that is challenging and inspiring to me.Rather than emulating a specific era, we try to capture contemporary characters in a way that feels timeless, meant to last.
Do you have a personal favourite and what scenario does it remind you of?
Harry Lambert:ย My favourite is โBright, Hotโ. I have been secretly wearing it for a while as a test run and now it feels part of me. โBright, Hotโ reminds me of friends, an intimate dinner, getting dressed up to sit in the corner of a dark restaurant and spend hours gossiping and eating.