- Clara Weale Perfumer:
Clara Weale is a remarkable and multi - faceted figure in the world of perfumery. Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, she is a self - taught perfumer and scent designer, whose work has captured the attention of fragrance enthusiasts and industry insiders alike.
Weale is the creative force behind the brand "early modern". This brand represents a playful and innovative exploration of contemporary perfume. It emerged from Clara's deep understanding and passion for the materials and structures that shape our olfactory world. What sets her scents apart is their deliberately abstract nature. They are not designed to be immediately recognizable in the traditional sense. Instead, her fragrances, such as "veil", "life of the party", and "pavilion pavilion", are crafted to be experienced through the lens of memory and nostalgia. This means that each individual who encounters her scents can project their own personal associations onto them, truly making the fragrance their own.
Beyond her work as a perfumer, Clara Weale is also the founder and director of a library of olfactive material. This is an invaluable open - access resource dedicated to scent education, experience, and experimentation. It houses over 300 fragrant substances, along with a collection of books, magazines, and ephemera related to the world of scent. During the monthly open sessions and one - off workshops, individuals can come and explore this vast repository of olfactory knowledge, expanding their understanding of scents and how they are created.
In addition to her commercial and educational endeavors, Weale has been involved in some unique and thought - provoking projects. For example, she worked on "olfactive evolution" as part of the Design Museum's "Design Researchers in Residence: solar" exhibition. Using data from scientists studying how plants respond to climatic stress, she recreated floral scents of jasminum auriculatum at different temperatures and campanula rotundifolia under different watering conditions. This project not only demonstrated her technical prowess but also her ability to merge art, science, and fragrance. Another notable project was her work on "the scent of insulin". Insulin, being an extremely expensive substance, has a distinctive smell known to those who rely on it and their caregivers. By presenting expired insulin as a luxury perfume, she aimed to draw attention to the inflated cost of this life - saving substance, with 50% of the proceeds from related items being donated to mutual aid diabetes.
