Despite the absurdities in the hit Netflix TV series Emily in Paris, it got one thing right: wearing perfume but having no clothes on does not count as being naked. The English verb “wear” for using perfume acknowledges that fragrance is one of the essential elements in shaping one’s personal image, much like clothing. Fragrance is intangible, yet its influence is more powerful than any attire. “Fragrance doesn't lie, pleasant is pleasant. The scent is direct and honest,” say Adrian Yu and Jasper Li, founders of the perfume brand Tobba.
Based in Hong Kong with perfume made in France, Tobba is a perfume brand with luxurious packaging and fragrance names. The founders’ backgrounds are diverse. Yu was originally a fashion buyer with unique insights into market demand and packaging design. Li, on the other hand is responsible for fragrance design and the creative direction of the brand. He was originally a painter who wanted to take a break between exhibitions and explore other creative mediums. He didn't want to be limited to two-dimensional works, so decided to start with fragrances.
“If you ask me, I’d say that Tobba is not just a perfume brand. Rather, it is more like a gallery, where each piece of work contains the memories and stories of the creator,” says Li. He explored this new creative field inspired by his mother, who is a perfume collector. Thanks to her influence, Li became particularly interested in fragrances. “Fragrance is a magical art form. You can't hear it or see it, but it often evokes deeper memories than what you experience through sight or hearing,” he says.
Perfume is often described with words like floral, woody, fruity, or oceanic. Tobba’s six fragrances use an unexpected ingredient, patchouli, a type of traditional Chinese medicine. Everyone has a scent they are familiar with, and it doesn't have to be fancy or alluring. For Li, it was the scent of patchouli, which reminded him of his childhood visits to the Chinese medicine clinic with his grandmother due to his poor digestion. Over time, this scent became a core element in his memory and was used as a base for Tobba's fragrances. Currently, most consumers recognise the presence of traditional Chinese medicine in Tobba’s scents, but it has not deterred them, which demonstrates the market’s open-mindedness.
Before the brand was officially launched, Li spent more than seven years to teach himself about perfume and work on his creations. The brand launched six fragrances shortly after its debut. Among them are scents inspired by French painters, and Li challenged himself to transform monochrome into layers and spaces through studying fragrances. There is also a tribute to his mother's beloved perfume, Soir de Paris, which was created by the same perfumer as Chanel No.5. Li initially found the scent too strong, but grew more intrigued by it as he continued to smell it. The other perfumes also have different stories behind them, including scents that are calming and helpful for meditation.
In Tobba's world, the two founders will experiment with whatever that has meaning. Li recalls taking a fragrance course, where one of his Middle Eastern classmates had a unique way of expressing himself with fragrances, inspiring him to start an exotic fragrance brand. This approach may not be suitable for the Asian market, as Asian consumers aren’t accustomed to using perfumes daily and don’t consider perfumes a necessity.
When the two held a sharing session at Harvey Nichols, the audience was pleasantly surprised by Tobba’s fragrance, believing that its scent was difficult to recreate. This gave the founders a boost of confidence and further confirmed that if they focus on creating quality products, the audience will still be won over whether it be in Hong Kong or Europe. Starting a business is always difficult, but if you overcome the initial challenges and focus on creating great products, success will come.
“Comme des Garcons' designs may not be affordable for everyone, but with their perfumes, you can always take a chance,” believes Yu. We may not take risks easily, but changing our scent and imagining ourselves in another place is always a good way to escape reality.
Interview & text: Daniel Cheung
