Thank you 2024

As a general rule, I don’t have a rearview mirror in life. I pretty much just keep moving forward, following my path, doing what I love — creating, making, collaborating, celebrating and immersing myself into the world of fragrance.

Once a year I pause to reflect on what we’ve achieved, to take stock of the year, and plan out the next one. It’s been a big one. The list is long. But it’s been exciting. 

We released 3 new eau de parfums, 8 new room mist fragrances and 2 new candle collabs: Short Grain with Marty Boetz and Garden Life with Richard Unsworth.

At the Raconteur Farm, we made a beautiful film that captured the essence of my “paddock to perfume ” journey so far. I wrapped up a year of design work and hope to have all my building approvals in place in the new year before embarking on a year of construction! 2025 will be dirty, dusty, and noisy. Eeeeek!

On the fragrance collab side, there were two big projects in Tasmania: first was designing a scent that captured the essence of Tasmania for Brand Tasmania. While the scent involved over a year and a half of research, the end result is an exceptional room mist fragrance featuring beautiful botanicals that are endemic to Tasmania, including King Billy and Huon pine, lemon boronia and mountain pepper.

The second was collaborating with Kirsha Kachaele to design an eau de parfum to commemorate the reopening of the Ladies Lounge at Mona as a result of Kirsha’s victory in the Supreme Court.

Because when one wins a Supreme Court ruling, one releases a commemorative fragrance — “for the lady who appeals”.

Originally created in 2020 in homage to Kirsha’s great-grandmother Tootsie, the Lounge is an oasis amidst the art, architecture and male hubris of Mona — a haven of priceless treasures and enlightened conversation where the only man present is the butler, who does as he’s told. The fragrance launches on Thursday 19 December when the Lounge will reopen for a final month of celebration and indulgence before it leaves Mona forever. Men are (still) not permitted, though the opportunity to be of service will be available to a select few, if they queue nicely.

Oh, and we opened our second store — in Tasmania. The Raconteur Consulate opened in the middle of winter on Morrison St near the Hobart waterfront. All our flickering candles provided the perfect backdrop we were soon inundated with locals wanting to know more about this “perfumer guy who’d moved to Tassie from Sydney”. We're still getting used to “cruise ship” season as 6,000 passengers disembark every week and stroll by looking for a piece of Tasmania to take home. Somebody call security.

Our international expansion plans kicked off. We arrived in New York at Stele Perfumery in Brooklyn and in London at Bloom Perfumery in Covent Garden. These two outstanding perfumeries showcase the best of what’s happening in the world of niche and artisanal fragrance and we’re thrilled to be part of their family. Thank you, Jake, Matt and Oksana  for your outstanding creative leadership. 

● Vince Frost and Wing Lau at Frost Collective for your packaging brilliance
● Michele Aboud, Chris Barron and Glen Pokorny for your filmmaking prowess
● Katie Marx for your botanical artistry
● Annika Kafcaloudis, Tim Williams, Dearna Bond and Jesse Hunniford for your fabulous eye with the lens
● Stephanie Stamatis and Verity Wood for your styling genius
● Todd, Holly and Jess and the whole Brand Tasmania Team for your outstanding leadership
● Kirsha, Tonya and Lisa from the Ladies Lounge and Material Institute universe for your passion for fragrant storytelling
● Kirsten and the team from Medium Rare for shining a light, a brighter light, on my role as a small business operator in the “creative economy”
● Elvio and Guy from Liminal Studio for your architectural brilliance
● Marty from Short Grain and Richard from Garden Life for your friendship and collaboration
● Rodney and Sev (the Agrarian Kitchen), Tammy and Donna (Drill Hall Emporium) and Tim and Katrina (EOT) for all your help along the way

And then there’s my team. In a year of crazy busy, as we all glide across the pond with our little legs paddling furiously below, thank you for all your help - I really can’t do what I love doing without your support: Lyn, Kiera, Hilary, Robb and Kyra as well Conor and Tamas on the farm.

Finally, to our customers, wholesale partners, producers, suppliers and all the hands who touch our products and help make our products to ensure they are made in Australia - thank you for continuing to provide your support and for loving authentic Australian scent storytelling.

Wishing you all a merry Christmas and a fabulous new year with your friends and family.

See you in 2025!!

XX
Craig