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The Belgian perfumer bringing Australian native flowers to fragrance

Shocked to observe Commonwealth of australia did non have a robust perfume manufacture despite its magnificent flora, Dimitri Weber set up out to create i.

Struck by the lack of perfume made from Australian native ingredients, Belgian-born perfumer Dimitri Weber made his own.

Updated Jul 1, 2020 – 9.39am , first published at 9.36am

When Dimitri Weber first came to Australia in 2014, he went straight to David Jones to find Australian-made perfume. A lifelong fragrance fanatic, Weber spent his early career working in the corking perfume houses of Europe, from Yves Saint Laurent in the early '90s ("When," he says, "the old man was nevertheless alive") to Gucci, where he created scents for the likes of Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, to Shiseido, whose fragrance launch for Cartier brought him to Sydney.

"I love to buy local souvenirs," Weber, who hails from Belgium, says. "You know, when I am in Italy, I go to Zegna. And I knew Commonwealth of australia had and so much great fashion – I knew of Zimmermann, Camilla and Marc – and beauty, similar Jurlique. But loving fragrance, I wanted to know, what does Australia accept to offer?"

At the department store, though, there was no Australian-conceived fragrance to exist constitute. "The salesperson said, 'No, nosotros don't really make our ain fragrances here.' And I merely thought, 'What?' Because we – overseas – used a lot of Australian ingredients in our perfumes, like sandalwood. I found it very intriguing."

Intriguing, and ripe with opportunity. Travelling around the land, Weber before long discovered that sandalwood was just the commencement of the native flora that could work for perfume.

"There is oud," he says, "from the Daintree rainforest, which is really the kickoff sustainable oud forest in the globe." Oud, from agarwood, is a well-known fragrance ingredient with a vanilla scent that is ofttimes referred to as "oriental" in the perfume world. 1 of the nigh expensive ingredients in the world, it is highly sought later.

Australian oud can now be found in Wood Infusion, one of the viii fragrances that make up Weber's Goldfield & Banks portfolio of scents.

Bohemian Lime, the latest in Goldfield & Banks' collection of fragrances.

The make, launched in 2016, is, as Weber says, "a combination of the French expertise of perfume with Australian native ingredients", and intended to highlight the dazzler of Weber's adopted home. The name is a nod to the goldfields of Victoria, where sandalwood grows, and botanist Joseph Banks, expedition scientist on Captain Cook'due south voyage to Australia.

"The perfume manufacture is so saturated, everyone claims they are the best," says Weber. "Everyone claims they have something different. But I am very proud to be the only brand that focuses on Australian natives, and to brainwash people on the beauty of this land."

The eight fragrances capture different elements of the country: Pacific Rock Moss uses coastal moss; the newest odor, Bohemian Lime, is made with native finger lime and meant to evoke the beaches of Byron Bay and the due north coast of NSW.

The fragrances are unisex and stocked in Harvey Nichols, Selfridge'due south and Bloomingdale'due south, besides every bit Adore Beauty in Australia. Local department stores, Weber says, are still in the mindset of Italian and French luxury perfumes.

Dimitri Weber, founder of Goldfield & Banks: "I am very proud to be the simply brand that focuses on Australian natives, and to educate people on the beauty of this country."

Weber says expanding his collection is top of mind, especially every bit he continues to discover new ingredients.

"When I smelled desert rosewood for the kickoff time, I thought, 'Oh my goodness!' It's leathery, sturdy, powdery. It wasn't on the radar at all, considering there'south not enough supply. You have to produce tons and tons of information technology to use information technology in fragrance."

Luckily for Weber, it is grown in the central highlands of Victoria. Brownish boronia, grown in Tasmania, is some other precious ingredient – and a characteristic of Southern Blossom.

Australian native ingredients can be challenging to work with. Not every ingredient tin have oil extracted, meaning Weber has to find substitutes from overseas.

"We prefer much more to work with natural native essential oils," he says, "but sometimes yous take no pick because nature doesn't want to deliver what you expect. That'southward when we take to apply our magic to capture the smell."