SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS: Byredo founder Ben Gorham is on a roll with Neiman Marcus, quite literally. He’s currently touring six of the chain’s stores even as he prepares to open a branded boutique in May at 62 Wooster in Manhattan, the first outside his hometown of Stockholm. Neiman’s began selling Byredo fragrances last fall in four doors and is adding two Florida units this week and several more this autumn, according to Kelly St. John, vice president and divisional merchandise manager.
“It’s doing very well,” St. John said. “He appeals to a diverse age and group of people, so it’s been a really, really successful introduction for us. Even in some of our more conservative doors it seems to have a cult following.”
During a visit Friday to Neiman’s at NorthPark Center in Dallas, Gorham told fragrance fans that each of his 22 scents was inspired by specific memories and influences. The bestseller Bal d’Afrique, for instance, was his attempt to express his father’s sojourn in Africa. “I think you really have the possibility to evoke emotion when you try a fragrance,” Gorham said. “I found the inspirations were endless.”
Gorham has concocted 22 fragrances since he launched Byredo in 2006 and introduced body products last year.
“By summer there will be a beauty product, an accessory product and I’d like to add something unexpected,” he said.
Byredo, short for “by redolent,” is a division of Manzanita Capital.