Perfume Pioneers: Killian Wells

The olfactory rebel. Los Angeles-based Killian Wells, pop musician turned perfumer turned millennial entrepreneur, represents less a relaxing of the rules of perfumery and more their ripping up. His fragrance house Xyrena pays homage to the retro culture of the 1980s and to the smells we risk losing in the march of modernity. Wells’ first job was a cinema projectionist and this colours the format of the range; each perfume is packaged in a VHS case, with the invitation to display and reminisce over a movie library of scents. Dark Ride, which features in Perfume, is an olfactory snapshot of a log flume ride - Wells’ references are Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain rides.

Perfume: A Sensory Journey Through Contemporary Scent continues until 23 September at Somerset House.

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