Byredo, also known as the “cult perfume line” by its huge fan base, has just opened its second world location in the heart of Soho. The first location is based out of Stockholm, Sweden where its clever products became popular and in high demand almost overnight. Founder Ben Gorham’s idea of “translating memories into smells” became too irresistible for the rest of the world to be missing out on, and Byredo quickly became an international success.
Although Byredo has been selling its fragrances, candles, leather goods, and other products in retail stores for a few years, Gorham felt it was time to expand the brand. “All of these categories were being presented in wholesale environments, and kind of segmented and segregated within department stores, and I thought that there needed to be a place where they all came together—where people could understand the connection between these products.”
The Byredo Boutique has come together quite stunningly in its new Soho space. Gorham has been working with Swedish architect, Christian Halleröd over the past year with the idea of developing a “neutral” space to display his much sought-after products. “Since this varies so much from a department store business, in terms of pace, I wanted there to be areas put in the back—the desk and the couch—where people could sit down and take their time learning about and understanding the product.”
According to Gorham, his Soho location “has made a fragrance specifically for this store, but it’s not quite done and it doesn’t quite have a name that I can talk about yet. But it smells like leather. It was really about capturing the whole process of creating all of these products for this space.”
What’s next for the brains behind Byredo? Like Fashion IQ, they not only have their eyes set on LA , they have them set on dreams as well. Gorham wants “to create a toothpaste for L.A. dreamers… Perhaps the L.A. crowd can dream like New Yorkers, and New Yorkers could dream like Angelinos.” Well, our new Fashion IQ branch in LA would love to offer shopping on demand for this dream-influencing toothpaste; and we would love to see the next Byredo store pop-up in LA too!
