What I Want Wednesday: To Be Jo Malone For A Day...

I'm working now on finalizing some design options of the SL's logo, and Jo Malone has certainly served as some great sources of inspiration.  I hope the SL's final design evokes the same class, simplicity and luxurious feeling as Jo Malone's incredible line of products. 

If you're not familiar with Jo Malone products, stop reading my blog now and go familiarize yourself with her genius!  She's 21st century scent innovator mixing new unexpected aromas, fusing spice with flower, and she never never disappoints.  The best thing about Jo Malone's scents?  They last.  She'll have you smellin' like a goddess all day!


What an interesting lady, too, with a crazy connection to McDonald's-- a fascinating juxtaposition between classy elegance and American fast food.  Read Vogue UK's bio by Jo Craven:

The name Jo Malone sends most women into a reverie of cream boxes with black edging and original fresh scents. As a child, Jo Malone would make her own perfumes with flowers from the garden and grated Camay soap. The family home was in Bexleyheath, Kent - her mother Eileen was a beautician and her father an artist.
She worked as a florist and gave facials in her kitchen at night. It was when she met her husband Gary at the age of 19, that their business, featuring her handmade scents and products, took off. She gave her Nutmeg and Ginger Bath Oil as a thank you to her clients and the orders began to flood in. No wonder there is traditionally a queue around the block from her shops at Christmas.

• Jo Malone created a lemon fragrance for the scented hand wipes in McDonald's
• She takes her own white linen sheets with her on holiday and likes them changed and starched every two days. She also takes her scent-making kit and a dictaphone to keep by the bed
•  Jo Malone opened her first store at 154 Walton Street in London in 1994
• By 1999, she launched her flagship store in London's Sloane Street
 
That same year her company was purchased by Estée Lauder with Jo still at its UK helm as chairwoman and creative director. Then in 2006, she sold it to them in its entirety. "After much soul-searching, I believe that this is a good time to make this decision as the brand is in a secure position and I have many other dreams and passions I would like to fulfill," she said.

Her storefronts, packaging, and product designs are simple and beautiful, very reminiscent of the treasured Coco Chanel products that we all love and adore.  I'd live in her store if I could!

{Interview and portrait photo via Vogue.com, product pictures via Jo Malone, London}