To celebrate our abundance of wonderful Australian fragrance houses at Lore Perfumery, we started a QnA series to get to know all of the people behind the brands a bit more.
Today, we’re chatting to Craig Andrade, the perfumer and founder of The Raconteur. From lawyer to self-taught perfumer, Craig has become a highly sought-after perfumer in the industry (also creating fragrances for Troye Sivan). With 6 new (very exciting) fragrances about to launch, we couldn’t wait to pick Craig’s mind!
What is your first or most powerful non-perfume scent memory?
Dry grass, African savannah, my childhood.
What inspired you to start The Raconteur?
A love of fragrance and a good mid-life crisis.
What would you say are the core tenets of The Raconteur, what defines it?
Australian storytelling through scent that’s interesting and irreverent.
How do you approach the creation of a fragrance? Do you start with a story/concept and then make a fragrance that embodies it, or do you start with the fragrance and write its story from there?
Always concept first.
Are there any materials or ingredients you especially love to use in your fragrances?
No. Every concept requires a clean slate. The story writes itself.
Is there a fragrance from The Raconteur that you feel particularly passionate about or connected to?
Dirty Gold Digger. It’s a fragrance that takes its cue from 1850’s central Victoria where we experienced the world’s biggest gold rush. Thousands of people flocked to Australia. If they survived the journey at sea, they rode by horse for days into the harsh Victorian countryside, cleared land, made camp, and started prospecting. This moment in our history also lead some of the prospectors carrying out the first distillation of eucalyptus oil —— and that lead to the start our oil industry. From a moment of solid gold we got liquid gold.
My fragrance is about celebrating two things, first, the oil from eucalytpus (our national tree), and secondly, all the people in life who take big risks to follow their dreams (ie the dirty gold diggers!). I’m one of them.
What’s something that people may not know about The Raconteur?
That we’re only 5 years old.
Do you have any perfumery pet peeves?
Fragrance should be fun and experimental. Have an adventure. Take risks. Mix things up. Be bold. Wear what you love. Follow your nose, not the marketing lane-ropes that industry voices in the industry try force consumers into.
This idea of having 1 signature scent is nonsense. You don’t only wear 1 outfit, or eat 1 type of meal. You dress for the season, the time of day, the event. Likewise, the way you eat changes.
Your fragrance palate should be no different. Scent is a form of invisible communication, and it should complement the messaging you’re intending to deliver to those who are fortunate enough to be close to you.
What does it mean to you to be an Australian fragrance house?
We focus on telling unique Australian stories through scent, shining a light on unique Australian ingredients as part of that process, and always with a cheeky sense of irreverent humour along the way.
What fragrance are you wearing today and why?
None. I’m currently designing a custom scent for a client and I keep my skin clear for testing during this process.
