Bluebell & Strawberry: Scent Meets Style | Molton Brown US

Bluebell & Wild Strawberry is by no means your traditional floral-fruity fragrance. Clean and slightly crisp on top with a dewy, woody base, it’s a scent of contrasts synonymous with Nyberg’s vivid memories of a childhood spent roaming the bluebell-strewn Alpine woods in France’s Alps-de-Haute Provence. “I wanted to have a very contrasted fragrance to highlight the energy and the feeling I had in the forest. This vivid colour of all those little flowers on the green carpet of the forest is amazing. And I really wanted to translate that into this fragrance. Spring is the right moment."

And that springtime feeling, with all its hope and optimism and arborescent aromas, is one Romanian-born Sarca identifies with immediately. “It smells amazing. It really reminds me of spring and flowers and blossoms. Especially of Easter time in Romania. For me, it's one of my most favourite memories that I have related to scent. And it really reminds me of that. And fresh grass. It's amazing.”

These references to nature happen often as the two women chat about their creative mediums. It has both inspired and guided them – along with a strong familial influence. For Sarca, who grew up in Romanian countryside, her upbringing has formed the foundations of her brand today. “My grandparents worked in agriculture their entire life, so for them, respect for nature and what nature offers to us is a very important thing. The way we give back and the way we treat the environment. That's why I really want to be conscious of the way I produce, about the environment, and make sure I learned that lesson from the way I grew up.” Nyberg nods in agreement: “I grew up on the border of Provence and the Alps where the nature was amazing. My grandparents had a farm and all my source of inspiration – the flowers, the herbs, the plants – was there. My grandma really taught me a lot, but without me knowing it. I think it's so important today that we realise the impact of nature.”

A break in the day’s shoot marks the set-up of Ancuta’s workspace in the studio for a film depicting her creative process. Craftsmanship, creative freedom and expressiveness are cornerstones of Artists of Note and reflect the freedom Molton Brown perfumers are afforded when they make fragrances. It’s about more than creating a scent to respond to a brief: like with Nyberg and Bluebell & Wild Strawberry, it’s about memories, lived experiences and emotions, and how they deepen the connection the wearer has with the scent. “It's sometimes about ingredients, sometimes materials,” Nyberg explains. “So if the ingredient is talking to me, giving me a source of imagination, I start from the ingredients. Sometimes brands tell me a story and it’s the emotion that I get from that story. But it's always something that touches my memories and my emotions that I try to translate.”

Watching Sarca recreate her process of creating a pair of shoes as the cameras pan around her, it’s clear she works in a more tactile way. “I start my work with designing, but not necessarily drawing and sketching,” she explains. “Whenever I have the materials, I sculpt them and drape them. I feel like I have more control if I design in 3D rather than drawing – I feel like drawing for me is a bit flat and I can’t visualise the final product as easily as I do with draping and manipulating the fabrics onto the heel shapes. I'm very hands on, I like to feel the material, see how it moulds onto the shape, how they behave as a sandal or a boot."

It's a long and meticulous process, but one that affords Sarca the opportunity to create limited runs of pairs of shoes, and she thrives off the unpredictability of working with deadstock. “You can't really imagine what to expect sometimes. I really like the exclusivity side of it, that sometimes you can only make a certain number of pairs, but not mass produce. I really love that. Sometimes deadstock can come in limited quantities. Sometimes you make a sample, but then you can't really put it in production. So it can come with some challenges.”

As the day wraps up, Nyberg and Sarca exchange shoes and fragrance for the cameras. There is genuine excitement and awe at each other’s creations and a creative connection that transcends their differing mediums. “It really captures everything that you've said,” Sarca says as she spritzes the fragrance. “And the spring. The flowers, the fresh energy that spring comes with. It's everything that I wanted to incorporate into the shoes.” Nyberg grins. “And I will be very good wearing these and thinking about the bluebell fragrance with these on my feet!” she says as she models the mules. “It's incredible because today, when I see finally the fragrance and you trying it, I realise from a creative idea, it's alive. It's so beautiful because [the shoes] anchor all the ideas I had when I created this fragrance. For me, it’s a very nice emotional moment.”

Words & interview by Francesca Cotton