I have to be honest even though I’m ashamed to admit it, before I met Azzi Glasser this week I didn’t know her brand or story – The Perfumers Story. Azzi is a perfumer and the nose behind the most exquisite and unique fragrances, with her exclusive perfume After Hours launching in Harrods imminently. It’s difficult to describe a scent, especially one like After Hours which really has its own personality: sexy, sultry, warm, loving and cool. With notes of vetiver, oudh and Bois de Rose it is like nothing I have ever smelt at any high-end perfumer counter; yesterday I was stopped twice to ask what scent I was wearing! That’s powerful.
When I met Azzi at Soho’s Quo Vadis over a coffee and croissant I was quite literally taken aback by her beauty and charismatic presence, not to mention her flared-sleeve Temperley London dress ‘oh I love her designs.’ With friends and private clients in the highest places across London society and Hollywood, I now know that she is the go-to for sensual, unique and sexy fragrances. As well as her own The Perfumers Story designs, Azzi creates scents for actors to get into character on-set. She’s worked with director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Kick Ass) on several film projects and recently designed a smell for the lead actors in Kingsman: The Golden Service (2017) to wear; it had to be quintessentially British and debonair so she mixed vetiver, smoked wood, leather and suede for a masculine that was so on-point both Colin Firth and Taron Egerton wore it. On her work with actors, Azzi explains ‘when they wear it they feel in character, more so than what they’re wearing; it’s emotion because you can’t see it and that’s powerful.’
It was such a pleasure listening to Azzi in conversation my friend, fashion journalist Davina Catt; I’ve never known about the art and creativity behind creating a fragrance, Azzi explained ‘perfume is complex and like music it’s a perfectly formulated composition, when composing you don’t want something that has rough edges, you want it to sound fine-tuned and balanced to work together.’
Inspired by those nights where the night really begins in the after hours, I implore you to go and smell After Hours in Harrods; it really is exquisite and superior to anything I have ever smelt before.
