THE RACONTEUR
Australia’s story-led perfumery
The Raconteur is an Australian perfumery creating story-led perfumes and home fragrances inspired by Australia’s people, places and culture. Our collection includes eau de parfum, candles and room sprays, each designed to capture a remarkable story and transform it into scent.
Every fragrance is conceived, formulated and hand poured in Australia using exceptional ingredients and an uncompromising commitment to craftsmanship. Our products are proudly vegan and cruelty free.
We believe people fall in love with stories and emotions—not labels. That’s why every fragrance we create is gender neutral.
All our fragrances are gender neutral. We don’t believe that gender identity has any role to play in deciding what fragrance notes a person should, or shouldn’t like.
founder
CRAIG ANDRADE
Does the world need another perfume?
Probably not.
Unless it tells a story no one has told before.
That was the question Craig Andrade asked himself before leaving a 25-year international career in private equity and capital markets law to become a perfumer. His answer was simple: fragrance should be more than a luxury product—it should be a medium for storytelling.
Craig Andrade is the founder, perfumer and creative director of The Raconteur—Australia’s story-led perfumery. Through his work, he explores Australia’s culture, history and landscapes, translating remarkable stories into scent. His creative practice is built on the belief that the most memorable fragrances begin not with notes, but with people, places and ideas.
Craig trained in fine fragrance at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery before specialising in natural perfumery under the guidance of renowned American perfumer Mandy Aftel, one of the world’s foremost authorities in the field. Together, these influences shaped a practice that combines technical rigour with a deep appreciation for craftsmanship, the beauty of natural materials and the expressive power of scent.
Today, Craig collaborates with luxury hotels, hospitality groups, cultural institutions and lifestyle brands to create distinctive olfactory identities that express the character of a place, deepen emotional connection and become an enduring part of the guest or customer experience. His work spans bespoke fragrance creation, olfactory branding, hospitality amenities and immersive fragrance experiences.
Australia remains Craig’s greatest creative influence.
Home to one of the world’s richest and least explored aromatic landscapes, Australia offers an extraordinary palette of native botanicals and untold stories. While ingredients such as sandalwood, boronia and eucalyptus are recognised internationally, countless other aromatic species remain largely undiscovered by the fragrance industry. Exploring this landscape has become a defining part of Craig’s frontier perfumery practice.
Curiosity lies at the heart of Craig’s work. Every project begins with a question rather than an answer—about a place, a person, a landscape or an idea.
Research becomes story. Story becomes scent.
While many of Craig’s stories begin in Australia, the emotions they explore are universal. They transcend geography, culture and time, allowing each fragrance to connect with people wherever they are in the world.
The result is fragrance that is not only beautiful, but deeply meaningful.
Yet scent is equally grounded in science. Unlike our other senses, smell is uniquely connected to the brain’s limbic system—the centre of memory and emotion. A single fragrance can transport us across decades, reconnect us with people we have loved, or shape how we remember a place. This remarkable relationship between scent and emotion lies at the heart of Craig’s practice.
“My role isn’t to compose perfume. It’s to translate remarkable stories into scent.”
— Craig Andrade
