Histoire Olfactive Collective (HOC), founded by Masha Zanier, has recently launched in Fortnum and Mason.
Parisian-born Zanier has a standing within the fashion and beauty worlds and the concept of her brand, HOC first came about during her MBA. During this time, she met with leading figures within perfume companies from around the world and that inspired her to start up her own firm that specialises in luxurious and creative fragrances.
Fast forward, and luxury HOC deals in more than fragrances, it also focuses on its creators. It is a new movement that sees leading perfumers writing modern olfactive history through expressive scents that are by their lifestyles.
And now in beloved Fortnum and Mason’s you can pick up the debut three perfumes, blended by the Firmenich perfumer, Vincent Schaller. Over the course of his 25-year career in Firmenich house, Vincent created over 350 fragrances and worked with a number of prominent brands. Now living in London he’s joined forces with HOC Vincent to convey his essence of London.
We sat down with Zanier to find out more about HOC.
What are your favorite qualities of this scent?
I think its nearly impossible to pick just one, I love how every perfume tells a story of a neighbourhood and places/things about London that have inspired Vincent. However, our most unique quality is the fact that every year one of the best perfumers in the world will create his or her own scent and tell a story about a city they love. The theme can be anything: books, places, people, films, cities.
How does it sum up London for you?
The top of the perfume actually links to the main places in London that Vincent is inspired by. The three scents include such quintessentially London themes as the tea time, the English rose, member’s clubs and much more
How long did it take to produce?
The idea came to me in 2016, in 2017 I met Vincent and we started discussing the collaboration, but before we were to go ahead, we had to get the agreement from Firmenich, which meant to get a big company to agree to do a small niche olfactive story. In 2018, we got the green light and started the production, launching in Milan’s Esxence exhibition in April 2019 and sales in Fortnum’s.
How did the collaboration with Fortnums come about?
Ironically enough, two of the references in the perfumes are actually about Fortnum’s: Piccadilly and the store’s postcode. This was the case even before the collaboration came about. It was important for us to find the right partner, and Fortnum’s is the perfect place for HOC. We are also very happy to see how fast sales are growing!
To shop the fragrance, visit Fortnum and Mason beauty hall, 181 Piccadilly, St. James’s, London W1A 1ER.
