Nov 28, 2023
Florence Welch Talks Gucci’s New Fragrance, Perfume Ghosts And Florence + The Machine’s Backstage Scent Ritual
The Gucci Bloom Profumo di Fiori campaign Florence Welch is many things. She is
The Gucci Bloom Profumo di Fiori campaign
Florence Welch is many things. She is the Grammy-nominated leader of Florence + The Machine, a songwriter, singer, poet, producer and author, thanks to the 2018 release of her first book, Useless Magic, a collection of lyrics, poetry and illustrations. The latest addition to her CV is starring in the Gucci Bloom Profumo di Fiori fragrance campaign alongside director and actor Anjelica Huston, actor and model Jodie Turner-Smith and designer Susie Cave. The newest member of the Gucci Bloom family, Master Perfumer Alberto Morillas executed Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele's vision to create the woody floral scent. Profumo di Fiori adds notes of ylang ylang, sandalwood, orris and musk to the original blend of jasmine bud extract, tuberose, and rangoon creeper, resulting in a delightfully deep and luscious floral explosion. Fittingly, the campaign is set in a garden. Welch tells us all about it, her band's scent rituals and fragrance ghosts.
Why did you decide to partner with Gucci? I’ve worked with Gucci for a long time. Alessandro's sense of style and aesthetic and mine are really intertwined. We’re constantly influencing each other. It just seemed natural for me.
How does Gucci mesh with your personal style? When I got really interested in vintage that really informed my personal style. The first things that I bought were from charity shops or thrift stores and then when I was on tour I would travel and go to lots of different vintage stores. I would spend all the money they give you for food on stage outfits. I was always doing my thing, but there was a while when maximalism wasn't really around as much in fashion and I feel like Gucci brought that back and that reference. That's why I’m really drawn to them, because I share so much of that interest. They take elements of vintage but it's never without an edge; it's never a copy. I think Alessandro is a genius.
Gucci Bloom Profumo di Fiori
What do you like about Gucci Bloom Profumo di Fiori? I love this one. I think it's my favorite out of all of the Blooms because it's very warm. The addition of the sandalwood base note I love. I love anything warm and sunscreen-y smelling, maybe because I’m pale. I have to wear a lot of sunscreen. I’m almost getting my vitamin D from perfume. If I could at least smell like the sun, if I don't see it, I feel like that's fine.
What was your favorite part of shooting the campaign and working with the cast of Anjelica Huston, Jodie Turner-Smith and Susie Cave? Definitely working with these incredible women. There was a moment me, Susie and Jodie were all dancing together in this beautiful place. I will never forget this. What an honor to be with these ladies. It's like the coven of my dreams.
How do you like to wear fragrance? I wear perfume every day. I love knowing what fragrance people wear. I don't know if it's a coincidence—all of my friends smell really good. If someone has a perfume on I have to know what it is. I’m a very sensory person so scent is very important to me. I’m always experimenting with perfume and fragrances. I find it's a really good hobby as well because you can get very deep into it. It's a good thing to get obsessed with because it's so complex and as a band we got really obsessed with fragrance on the last tour, which is a better hobby to have than drinking. We were all finding niche perfume stores in every city we went to, getting back in the dressing room and discussing sillage and projection and top notes and base notes and what the dry down is like. We know the lingo now. We even started mixing our own perfumes. We were like a fragrance cult; we were so obsessed. Everyone would be dousing themselves in perfume. I really hope that the smell of the band arrived before we did. We even got really into incense on the stage so that the front row—I don't know, I never discussed it with the fans—but I hope that the stage smelled amazing. When we were creating the set of the High as Hope tour, I wanted a fragrance designed [for it]. I wanted the auditoriums to smell like churches or incense because scent is so evocative, so even if it's a regular auditorium, the smell always reminded you of Florence + the Machine. But they were like you can't pump things into the air vents. What if someone is allergic?
The Gucci Bloom Profumo di Fiori campaign
Do you and your bandmates coordinate your scents or are you naturally on the same wavelength? A lot of the guys in my band like female scents as well. We were always swapping around, so I think we were in sync. We’re very fluid when it comes to fragrance. I think it should be completely fluid. Especially in the deep dive fragrance community, no one pays attention to any gendered fragrance. Everyone just wears anything, no matter what. That's really shifting, which is something Gucci is amazing at, so that's also why I really like working with the brand.
When you’re on tour, how many scents are you traveling with? There's a lot and you have to wrap them up and you keep the boxes, but we also end up collecting so many because as a band hobby now we go around to the niche perfume stores. Lucky Scent is great. You can just go in there and talk for hours about perfumes. I always go to Lucky Scent if I’m in Los Angeles. I went to such a good one in Barcelona, Libertine. There are loads. I’ve been all over the world. There are amazing ones in Australia. It's a really good hobby. It's better than the usual rock star hobbies, which I don't do anymore.
When did you first get into fragrance? I’ve always been interested in layering scents. When I was young, it always cheap stuff, but even before school—I love warm smells—I’d be layering an almond body lotion with a vanilla musk spray. You know, one of those shifty ones from the gas station. I just always wanted to smell really good. This was when I was like 11.
The Gucci Bloom family
What are your favorite scents and smells? Coffee! I love coffee; I love the smell of coffee.
Do you ever use fragrance to help you get creative when you’re working on your music alone? I do. I wear perfume every day; I carry it around with me. I have a lot of anxiety and I find scent really soothing. If I’m anxious or nervous, with cyclical thoughts you need anything that centers you, so actually scent can be really good for that because it takes you out of your head. But I also just love that if I leave and I wore a beautiful perfume it would still be there, like the ghost of me. I like to imagine that any studio that I’ve been in, I leave a little part of myself behind.
Why did you decide to partner with Gucci? How does Gucci mesh with your personal style? What do you like about Gucci Bloom Profumo di Fiori? What was your favorite part of shooting the campaign and working with the cast of Anjelica Huston, Jodie Turner-Smith and Susie Cave? How do you like to wear fragrance? Do you and your bandmates coordinate your scents or are you naturally on the same wavelength? When you’re on tour, how many scents are you traveling with? When did you first get into fragrance? What are your favorite scents and smells? Do you ever use fragrance to help you get creative when you’re working on your music alone?