Alum & Ash

Seven places, each with its own scent and its own geometry.

A collection is a place with a scent palette, not a single fragrance: the soap takes the brightness, the candle the depth, the diffuser the part you can live with all day — and the pattern comes from the same place as the scent. Marrakesh, Arabia and the Aegean open the range; four more follow.

Morocco

Marrakesh

The hot spiced street, and the cool green courtyard behind it.

The medina at dusk. The spice souk is closing, mint tea is being poured from height on a rooftop, and the cedar doors of the riads are shut against the heat. Push one open and you are somewhere else entirely: a courtyard with orange trees, water moving in a channel, shade.

Scent
Orange blossom, mint, cedar — and the spiced street
Pattern
Zellige tilework
Palette
Saffron & Cobalt

The Arabian Peninsula

Arabia

Bakhoor smoke, desert night, cardamom coffee. Resin above everything.

Bakhoor smoke curling out of a brass mabkhara, passed around the room so it catches in clothes and hair. Desert night outside; dates and cardamom coffee within. This is the deepest, darkest collection in the range, and it is meant to feel that way.

Scent
Oud, frankincense, amber — resin above everything
Pattern
Girih strapwork
Palette
Oxblood & Brass

The Spice Islands

Zanzibar

Cloves drying in the sun, brass-studded doors, ocean humidity.

Cloves drying on woven mats in the sun. The carved doors of Stone Town with their brass studs. Indian Ocean humidity, and the smell of the clove groves reaching you from offshore. Spice-led like Marrakesh, but sweeter, warmer, more tropical — nutmeg and clove, never coconut and pineapple.

Scent
Clove, lime, ginger — the spice islands
Pattern
Carved doors of Stone Town
Palette
Burnt orange & Deep teal

Copy and scents for Zanzibar are still being finalised with the supplier.

Iran

Persia

The walled garden that gave us the word paradise.

The walled garden — the pairidaēza that gave us the word paradise. Rosewater and saffron, cypress trees, water channels, carpets woven with the garden as their subject.

Scent
Rose, saffron, sandalwood — the walled garden
Pattern
The boteh — the motif that became paisley
Palette
Deep rose & Indigo

Copy and scents for Persia are still being finalised with the supplier.

Northern India

Rajasthan

Block-printed cloth drying in the sun, marigold and chai.

Block printing yards with cloth drying in the sun. Marigold garlands, sandalwood, chai boiling at the roadside in a clay cup. The most colour-saturated of the seven collections.

Scent
Cardamom, jasmine, sandalwood — the printing yard
Pattern
Hand-block printing
Palette
Marigold & Fuchsia

Copy and scents for Rajasthan are still being finalised with the supplier.

The Greek islands

Aegean

Olive groves and whitewash. Salt drying on skin.

Olive groves and whitewash. Salt drying on skin, fig trees, cypress standing against a hard blue sky, marble underfoot. The Aegean is the restrained collection, and it is here partly as counterweight: five shelves of warm resin would turn the whole range amber, and this one never will.

Scent
Olive, bergamot, fig, sea salt
Pattern
The Greek key
Palette
Emerald & White

Japan

Kyoto

The hinoki bathhouse. A moss garden in rain. Restraint.

The hinoki bathhouse. Temple incense. A moss garden in the rain. Kyoto is the quietest collection and it has to stay that way — over-decorating it would flatten the contrast that makes the other six work.

Scent
Yuzu, green tea, hinoki — the bathhouse
Pattern
Seigaiha wave pattern
Palette
Moss & Ink

Copy and scents for Kyoto are still being finalised with the supplier.