ARKET
editorial
On scents and the mapping of beauty

Notes|March 2025

On scents and the mapping of beauty

Scent is memory, place, and time – an invisible thread that links the material character of nature with the subjective realm of dreams, evoking emotions and connecting the past with the present.

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As we began creating our signature bath and body series in the years leading up to our 2017 launch, we found inspiration in the gardens of The International Perfume Museum in Grasse, southern France – an open-air conservatory and living archive of the region’s centuries-old history of perfumery. These gardens are arranged by distinct scent families: florals, herbs, woods, and many others, blending the organic beauty of nature with the logic of organisation. Dominated by roses, lavender, and jasmine, the gardens also weave in mimosas, citrus fruits, trees, and exotic spices. 

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At the heart of this fragrant landscape is a carefully illustrated ‘scent tree’ – a visual map documenting the relationship between plants and the raw materials used in perfumery. Each branch represents a different family, distinct yet interconnected, capturing the essence of a craft that has evolved here for over 500 years – the art of savouring the transitory nature of the flower season. The structure of this scent tree became the foundation of our scent grid, which we adapted for our own collection of single-ingredient scent concepts, including oakmoss (woods), verbena (herbs), geranium (florals), and others.  

 

 

The combination of methodical organisation, reductionist clarity, and organic beauty forms the core of our design philosophy. It has also deeply influenced our graphic identity, with the archetype of the grid – simple, repeating forms – woven throughout our collections. From the material palette to fabric weights, colour families, and food ingredients, the grid serves as the framework – pronounced or invisible – that shapes how we display not only fragrances, but all the tactile and sensory experiences we offer. 

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