Hey Jo

Ad’s Sanhita Sinha Chowdhury travelled to London to find out about British fragrance brand Jo Malone, which opens its first store in India in July

Earlier this year, I found myself on the streets of London, trying to spot the black cab that would take me to the Jo Malone Townhouse for a scented supper. The sleet and the paparazzi gathered outside The Claridges to see Jamie Dornan—there to promote 50 Shades Darker—didn’t make things easier. Anxious to see the brand’s Rose Uniacke-designed headquarters in Marylebone, and shivering under my coat, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw a TX4—not black, but dressed in white, and emblazoned with ‘Jo Malone’ in black—turn into Brook Street.

At the townhouse, Debbie Wild, the lifestyle director of Jo Malone, greeted me with a glass of champagne and an apology about the weather—so very British! From the grand sweep of the staircase at the entrance to the reclaimed-wood floor, this 18th-century beauty bears the signature Uniacke stamp of lived-in sophistication. Besides the offices, the building also houses a large space for meetings and dinners, a cosy garden room, and a generous drawing room where I was seated. As I sank into the off-white sofas, Wild said, “You know, I remember starting out with a tiny home in [a] basement. To think that we now have a whole house that personifies this brand…it’s just a dream for us.”