Unifrom: An Innovative Approach to Perfumery
Perfumery has been an art form for centuries, with the use of floral and botanical ingredients being the norm for most perfumers. However, Unifrom, a fragrance house built out of the Swedish high-rises, is challenging the conventional reference that perfumers have by conceptualizing scents based on the spices, incense, and cooking aromas that filled the stairwells of founder Haisam Mohammed's youth.
For Mohammed, scent was such a big part of his culture, and he wanted to create a brand that was based on the opposite of the traditional reference that perfumers have. This conscious move away from the bases of florals and botanicals in 'traditional' perfume has proven to be a hit, with the brand expanding to new markets in Asia and the US.
Unifrom is a perfume house that is built on the concept of imagining the next generation of luxury perfume. Mohammed founded the brand in the diaspora, inspired by the scents in the stairwells of families blending spices, burning incense, or cooking food. He wanted to create a brand that reflects the abstract nature of scent and turns it into something concrete.
Unifrom is already widely available in Europe, and Mohammed's atypical approach has led to a slew of fashion tie-ins, most recently on the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week. The brand scented a runway show for Heliot Emil during Paris Fashion Week and is now developing scented fashion show installations to allow guests to use an additional sense to understand the clothes, and it gives brands another way of communicating their creative vision.
In an interview with Soho House, Mohammed talked about his influences and inspirations. Being a bit naive when it comes to your ideas can be a good thing, according to Mohammed. It lets you start projects without perhaps knowing how hard it will get, and it allows you to enter rooms that you are not "supposed" to be in. For Mohammed, things got much easier as soon as he became comfortable in uncomfortable situations; he could focus on the task ahead, instead of what people were thinking about him.
Scent is such an abstract format, according to Mohammed. Branding has become his way of turning that abstract idea into something concrete. The brand likes to find ways to experience its perfumes in different contexts. They are currently looking to collaborate with sound designers who can translate their fragrances into audio and perhaps have more people explore their scents without having to smell them first.
Mohammed doesn't even try to maintain a work-life balance. He has made his passion projects into what he works with full time, which means that it's something that he enjoys doing and doesn't consider as work. He also tries to involve his loved ones in the business so that he can spend as much time with them as possible.
In conclusion, Unifrom Fragrances is a fragrance house that is taking a unique and innovative approach to perfumery. By conceptualizing scents based on the spices, incense, and cooking aromas that filled the stairwells of founder Haisam Mohammed's youth, they are challenging the conventional reference that perfumers have. The brand is expanding to new markets in Asia and the US, and Mohammed's atypical approach has led to a slew of fashion tie-ins, most recently on the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week. Unifrom is definitely a brand to watch for those who are looking for something unique and different in their perfumes.