Swedish supermodel Vendela looks gorgeous in party frocks in MORE’s December/January issue. What you can't tell from our shoot is how good she smells. She’s obsessed with fragrance (she’s currently working on a book about the perfume industry), and she had plenty to tell Susan Swimmer about the subject.
When did your interest in fragrance first come about?
I've always loved smells and from a young age I was always aware of how things smelled. Soaps and detergents, spices. . . everything. I still recognize a person by the way they smell. Certain friends, I just know their smell. So that was the start of it and, of course, it didn't take long for me to get into perfumes.
What's your first perfume memory?
The first perfume I loved was one my mother wore. She was a bit of a hippie, and she didn't wear regular perfume. She bought oils and would mix different ones on her skin. She wore one called Grass—I don't remember where she got it or if it's even around anymore. It smelled just like cut grass, very clean and fresh.
What do you personally like to wear?
I've never been one for really sweet or floral scents. I tend to go for musk or spicy things. My current favorite is by L'Artisan Parfumeur and it's called Patch, as in patchouli.
And of course, a big part of perfume is the packaging. Any bottles you love?
Oh, I just love certain perfume bottles. Chanel Number 5 has a beautiful one. The bottles Jo Malone uses are great. I have lots of different fragrances lined up in my bathroom, and I love the way they look.
You travel all over the world. Scent-wise, are there any places you find really inspiring?
Certain places are particularly wonderful for great smells, like Marrakech and parts of Africa and the Caribbean. Something about the food, the spices, the air—everything is just so great and very inspiring. I love to go to Grasse, France, which is the perfume capital of the world. It's not so much that it's filled with great smells, although the flowers and everything are wonderful; it's more that it's home to so many great fragrance companies.
I have this vision of you making your way through the world, smelling things!
Well, I am a bit crazy about it. When I was modeling a lot, whenever I traveled to the U.S. for work I was always buying things that smelled good to take home. For instance, when fabric softener dryer sheets came out, I'd buy boxes of them and bring them home. Some people thought I was a little strange.
