“It made me so happy. It's tiny and beautiful,” reflects Jo Malone CBE as she talks about the moment she first saw her new Jo Loves store in The Strand Arcade – the innovative fragrance brand’s first bricks-and-mortar location in Australia. “As you go down the walkway, you could be in London at the Wellington Arcade or in Paris, meandering down the Place Vendôme. It was heritage, but it was classic. It was beautiful and it was luxurious and yet there was this freshness. I just felt my store just smiling”.

After selling her previous namesake brand, Jo Malone London, to Estée Lauder in the 1990s, Malone launched Jo Loves in 2011. The brand – which benefits from Malone’s synesthesia – has become a gen Z favourite, thanks to its unique scents and innovative products including its fragrance paintbrushes.

“The in-store experience is so important to me,” says Malone. “I’m a scent storyteller, and each fragrance is a story. I want my stores to tell those stories.” One way Malone does this is through Jo Love’s signature tapas bar, which sits in the centre of the store. Here you can try on products and experience new scents, as well as hear the stories of each fragrance. “Your shower gel comes from cocktail shakers poured into martini glasses. Your bath cologne comes from steaming tajines with chopsticks. We paint you with fragrance. It’s free of charge. And we call it our first kiss — the moment the brand kisses you for the first time.”

Malone enjoyed meeting her Australian team and customers at the store, posing for photos in front of the all-white Union Jack (a homage to the Brand’s British roots) and the large red rose installation in the front window. “If I were to make a scent inspired by The Jo Loves store at The Strand Arcade I would use all the notes that I love,” said the perfumer who now lives in Dubai. “I would use vetiver and fig to represent the heritage and strength and orange blossom to represent the beaming white and red store. And then I would put a little bit of citrus over the top for cleanness and Australia.”

Jo Loves, located on Ground Floor