The design and packaging of your fragrances seems to be a pure celebration of all things that are British. How important to you was the overall styling and how did you start the process to achieve the final design?
Red is my favourite colour and have collected Union Jack flags and vintage bunting for years. Whilst filming HOTEL SECRETS in Japan, I was in a lift near Hakone, which was gloss red from floor to ceiling and it felt like being inside a box. I knew in an instant that this is what my packaging had to look like. Referencing pillar boxes and London buses.
You have achieved so much already with your fragrance range, winning awards such as the ‘Best Independent Fragrance 2015’, you are stocked in the likes of Liberty and Fortnum & Mason, does it still give you a huge thrill when you see your product on the shelves and being so positively received?
Having survived in business, albeit niche, for almost four years, amidst the competition of the giant conglomerates with vast advertising budgets, is beyond anything we dared envisage. I run the company with my daughter and we rely totally on social media and editorial to promote our brand. Customer feedback and interaction via Twitter and Instagram makes everything personal. Getting orders online and seeing the fragrances in stores is an enormous thrill. As I failed all my maths exams at school, it is nothing short of miraculous to me, that we have a thriving business!
If you could sum up your fragrance range in three words – what would they be?
'British is best'
What are your top tips for someone wanting to launch their own business?
Passion for your brand is paramount. It’s like those migrating herds crossing the Mara river in the Serengeti - many crocs waiting to take a bite. Surviving your first year requires great faith and perseverance, as the odds against you succeeding are very high.
You have some incredible projects coming out in 2018 such as Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms and Can you ever forgive me? Are you able to tell our readers a bit more about these projects and any more projects that you have on the horizon?
NUTCRACKER is a huge budget Disney version of the story starring Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and two teenage newcomers. I play Shiver, Regent of Winter, covered in icicles. Released for Christmas this year. CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME is a true story starring Melissa McCarthy. We play a pair of unlikely con artists who forged and sold literary letters in New York in the 1990’s.
Thank you Richard for your precious time! We love one man brand 'JACK'
Richard’s fragrance range is available from his website