‘Odours have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odour cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. - Patrick Suskind, Perfume.
What do a sweaty club, an old theatre, a quiet cafe and the number 22 bus have in common? More than embodying the concept of liminal space (as well as temporary venues for varying degrees of performance), the answer lies in the cult community of scent worshippers (some nose-blind, others hypersensitive) that Escentric Molecules has built over the last two decades. As for who this enigmatic community of scent-worshippers are? It’s worth noting that near-untraceable presence of Molecule 01 has found its way onto the skin of artists (David Furnish), musicians (Madonna) and models (Kate Moss), all of whom have recognised something in its refusal to conform, much like the industries they’re a part of.
If you’re lucky enough to have a quick swoop through the brand’s archive, you’ll find even the press (overseas and at home) have been wooed. No doubt it’s been hard, impossible even, to escape the media furore that’s surrounded Escentric 01 and Molecule 01 since their revolutionary launch back in 2006. As it so happens, 2006 was a rather huge year for the brand as the press came gushing; GQ ran a feature observing how Molecule 01 ‘vault adult scent into another league, allowing the individuality of the wearer to come through’; Grazia’s Bibi Lynch called it ‘perfume witchcraft’; The Independent summed it up in no more than three words: ‘maddening sex appeal’; and the London's Evening Standard crowned it ‘Fragrance of the Year’. Just like the many celebrities who were quick to fall head over heels, other titles were swift to follow in penning rave reviews soon after that infamous as the likes of The New York Times, WWD, Glamour, The Gentlewoman and Financial Times joined in on the collective cooing.
What’s the secret, you ask? Well, apart from it all boiling down to the brand’s revolutionary use of relying on the singular molecule Iso E Super (no added sugar necessary), it’s all down to the niche perfume house’s understanding that perfume, actually, has very little to do with scent as much as it has everything to do with aura. Yes, that funny little undefinable feeling that’s faceless… even baseless (by scientific standards), but you know it’s there, emanating from an object, a person or a place. Each nondescript noun gifted with the ability to project something as small as a memory or as great as a longing and appetite for whom or what you once were. In short, wear a perfume long enough, and you’ll find your future self thanking you for the memories it’ll soon hold, just as Carrie Ann Shirtcliffe, James Riseley, Michelyn and Keith Paterson did when responding to the brand’s call out for submissions from EM01 wearers in celebration of the cult brand’s 15th anniversary. These are the people whose earliest encounters with EM01's singular note, Iso E Super, unfold against the backdrop of an era now passed, made up of the theatres, cafes, buses and clubs of their youth. Each holds the memory of an individual encounter with a stranger or a loved one, all united by the same enchantment.
There are, of course, hundreds of other stories that lie in the house’s elusive archive (much like its perfume), all of which were collated by the brand in 2016 to prove that scent isn’t something defined by its smell but a mood.
You’d be pleased to know not one submission is built on a foundation of cliches, nor leans on the drab and dreary terms (such as‘self-expression’ & ‘power’) that litter the modern perfume market today. Instead, each submission starts with a description of a space, time and place their author was at when they encountered somebody cast under the spell of Molecule 01; a magic trick made up from a delicious concoction of lust, desire, adrenaline and most importantly, risk.
What’s better is, since that now fabled launch of EM01 (two of the brand’s first and arguably most iconic scents), Escentric Molecules has unfurled into something not too dissimilar to a spider’s web, although instead of tangled thread spun with spider’s silk, a clean line-up of glass bottles shapes the extensive trail, each one containing yet another cult favourite of the brand.
C0DE WITHIN, the campaign marking Escentric Molecules’ 20th anniversary, reflects inwards by drawing upon the brand’s history of creating a private yet universal language, one built on the kind of tension felt by a stranger across the room who recognises EM’s distinctive velvety, woody signature and feels the same pull, creating a shared code everyone’s in on.
Escentric Molecules does this by not only prioritising both the individual and collective wearer, but also by returning to the idea that started it all: ‘fragrance does not transform you. It reveals you,’. And so, unlike the stale olfactory plotlines perfumers create for their customers to embody (before hedging their bets on what they can only hope will be a money-maker), the campaign, just like the scents themselves, leaves it up to the wearers…or the lovers that they’ll inevitably encounter once that first spritz has been applied.
If one thing is clear above all else, it’s that Escentric Molecules understands that it’s not their scents that create buzz; it’s the people who wear them. They’ve cast a spell so strong that no other perfume house knows how to perform. The magic ingredient in EM01 may be one singular molecule, but the stories, history and archive that bloom from that one element almost loom as large as the sexual tension that arises each time it is smelt. One E01 wearer named Susu said it best:
‘Escentric Molecules is many things. But above all, it’s a true tale of art and chemistry.’
