Atlas Unchained: Sculpting Scent Opens Its Doors

‘They actually are beautiful.’

That was the general verdict yesterday evening at the opening of Sculpting Scent at The Conran Shop – Laboratory Perfumes’ LDF exhibition in which Zuza Mengham’s five sculptures were unveiled for the first time. 

The resin artworks – each a response to a different Laboratory Perfumes fragrance – took centre stage in the Marylebone store, and in the middle, revolving sedately on an illuminated plinth, was Atlas, Zuza’s mountain-evoking interpretation of the brand’s newly launched fifth scent.

We could talk about how its crystalline form encapsulated the sweet spiced smoke of the fragrance, or wax lyrical about how the interplay of colour, light and texture within the sculptures provided a strikingly accurate representation of the complex olfactory notes that constitute a perfume, but we had way too much prosecco to do that, so let’s just say: there was a shitload of Instagramming going on. 

Both Zuza’s work and the fragrances that inspired it went down a storm among the artists, designers and press folk that filled The Conran Shop for the evening, and we couldn’t have been prouder of the Laboratory Perfumes team and Zuza herself (despite her brandishing a broken wrist, courtesy of an overly vigorous Chapman Brothers away-day) for putting on such a great show. 

The good news is, it’s not over yet. Sculpting Scent is showing at The Conran Shop, Marylebone until the end of London Design Festival on 25 September– and the Morocco-inspired new fragrance will be exclusively available from the store throughout. Have a look at some of the exhibition snaps below, and do pop by for a look/sniff if you can…

Image credits: Photography by Dan Weill.