“We have this conviction that fine fragrance is like fine wine,” said Owen Mears, the founder of Ffern, a line of perfumes based in London. “Everybody knows it’s just grapes, but you can’t simply recreate it, because there is craft involved.” He was drinking tea at the Nine Orchard hotel next to his sister, Emily Cameron, Ffern’s creative director.
“Our starting point was doing things really differently,” Ms. Cameron said.
Undeniably, their perfumes are made and sold in a manner far different from a fragrance you might pick out at a department store or at Sephora.
Ffern, which Mr. Mears started in 2016, is a subscription service. A space on the ledger, as it’s called, costs $129 per season and signifies that you want a bottle from the next batch. From then on, you’ll get a new scent four times a year, as the seasons change.
Each edition is handmade in small batches in the English countryside from ingredients that are 95 percent natural and aged in barrels. Each scent is produced only for that season, never to be made again, incentivizing subscribers to make sure they collect each precious release.
That may explain the wait list. The number of spots on the ledger are limited, and once it’s full, you have to wait for a space to open up. According to the company, the wait list has half a million people on it, and 20,000 people add their names each week.
