Cover Jo Loves founder, Jo Malone, CBE, shares her story with us on her recent visit to the Philippines (Photo: Artu Nepomuceno)
Jo Loves founder, Jo Malone, CBE, shares her story with us on her recent visit to the Philippines (Photo: Artu Nepomuceno)
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The eponymous founder and creative director of Jo Loves takes us through her journey of crafting stories into exquisite fragrances, inspired by the exuberance of life
“My sense of smell is my predominant sense,” muses Jo Malone, CBE. It’s a gripping statement that anyone would expect of the British perfumer, whose renown in the art of fragrance all but precedes herself. Sitting down with Tatler on her recent visit to the Philippines, she talks about how scents have guided her whole life—much like a compass anchoring her to various moments and stories since her youth.
Thinking back to when such a fascination began, she recalls the lasting impression of paints wafting through the home of her parents, who were likewise ardent creatives, and the smell of silk shirts against her father’s neck. She says, “When I meet someone or I’m in a particular situation, it is always my trigger, my memory. I see fragrance in colour; I see it in texture. I can look at a picture and feel it there.”
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Jo made a name for herself in the Nineties when she founded an eponymous fragrance brand, enamouring the world with products and scents that have since gained cult status. Her life, however, took an unexpected turn in 2003.
“I was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 38 years old and given nine months to live,” she recounts now. Jo spent the following year undergoing aggressive chemotherapy, which ultimately saved her life but also stole one of her greatest gifts. “I had lost my sense of smell. The chemo had taken it,” she relays. “But I had my life back. I had a little boy, who was just six years old, and a wonderful husband; and I thought, ‘Go, enjoy your life, Jo.’”
Fearing that her “super” sense was gone forever, Jo exited the brand with a profound, painful realisation: “It wasn't a job or just a career. It was, in fact, my best friend. I walked away from my best friend.” To her surprise, one month after she turned the key in the lock that bittersweet day, her sense of smell returned overnight. “It came back very differently,” Jo remarks. “It came out braver and stronger and more intense. And so I’m different, too.”
See also: Ladies Who Lead: Jo Malone on the role of fear in being a pioneer and staying relevant
It’s like two parts of her life, she says. Jo Loves, her second venture into fragrance launched in 2011, distinguishes this new Jo and the countless stories she has yet to tell. “Building the first brand was much easier than building a second, that’s for sure. Everyone always asks me, ‘Why did you do it again?’ And the fact is, I love working,” shares Jo. She recounts the anecdote of her sitting at the kitchen table with her husband Gary and son Josh, when the name “Jo Loves” first came about thanks to her little boy. “He said, ‘Mum, you should call yourself Jo Loves! Because you love fragrance and fragrance loves you.’ And that night, the company was born.”
With 20 scents in its catalogue so far, Jo Loves is undoubtedly a creative outlet. It is the master perfumer’s canvas for her joie de vivre. “People, places, art—life inspires me,” she states of her creative process. “I can’t predict when it's going to happen though. I can’t go into a situation and summon it up.” It’s why the story of each Jo Loves fragrance is unique, crafted by instinct, emotion, and a touch of serendipity.
The resounding joy and fulfilment that she finds in this process is likewise what she wants to share with the world through the Jo Loves brand. “We’re travelling a lot at the moment, and I look at a group of people and I just want to make them smile or make them happy—make people feel good and remember how beautiful creativity is because no one is ever not welcome at the table of creativity,” she enthuses.
Read more: Creativity takes courage: Chef Darren Teoh on why failure should be an option
Above Jo Malone, CBE (Photo: Artu Nepomuceno)
Jo Malone, CBE (Photo: Artu Nepomuceno)
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Her concluding sentiments are equally compelling. “I think I want to change the world again,” Jo says. “I want to concentrate on the things I love, which is fragrance, and I have an elephant conservation project in South Africa. There’s a lot of things that people don't know about Jo, and with the money that we earn, I want to see good come out of it.”
Visit the Jo Loves boutique on the ground floor of Glorietta 4, Makati.
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Credits
Photography: Artu Nepomuceno
Photography Assistant: Choi Narciso and Aaron Carlos
Producer: James Mayo
Interview: Dara Clariza Evangelista
Location: Raffles Makati
Topics
Trained as a student journalist, Mac’s knack for writing was a serendipitous discovery. Years later and she can’t imagine doing anything else. When she isn’t typing away on a story, she revels in being lost in a new city, revisiting a cosy film or sitcom, and idling away with her dogs.
