There’s a funny story from when I was younger-I had this boyfriend and I guess I was 14 or something, and I had an older sister and I kept saying, ‘Oh, I’m so in love. That said, I wouldn’t say I’m driven by scent… I mean, I’m very aware of smells-usually bad ones! I choke on candles. So that’s my history and what we were working with during the two years we developed the scent. More recently, I wore the Hermés Rose Ikebana. But that’s a little strong, and I hate strong things. And then I had a Calvin era.he brought me to America, so I wore the first Calvin Klein fragrance for a while. The first fragrance I wore was from Floris, just a very light toilet water-I like the old-fashioned-ness of it. I like something that’s fresh but still smelled of roses. I love the smell of roses, but I’ve gone through so many perfumes that just cling and make you feel claustrophobic. When we started working with the nose on Grace by Grace Coddington, I said I wanted something pure. He was very excited to do it, and it kind of sprang from that. Yes, I’ll do it.’ Even on the phone, he said, ‘I’ll do it!’ To work with someone that’s so spontaneous is really extraordinary. At one point I said, ‘I’m going to call up Adrian at Comme des Garçons.’ He’s a friend of mine, and he just happened to be in town, which was fantastic, because he’s not often here. I kept saying, you know, ‘Don’t make it too long, because I’m quite old! I want to be around when it comes out.’ There was always another meeting and someone else to meet, so we started to get disheartened. Everybody seemed very interested, but it was looking like a very long process. And then she asked me, ‘Would you like to do a perfume?’ So I said yes, and we started going around to all the places to try and sell the idea.

when a friend of mine, who I had worked with, asked me, ‘Don’t you want to do some new projects?’ I didn’t really know because I was still full-time at Vogue. Everything is lifestyle, but an enhanced lifestyle at the same time. Because I like to put things in a place-a dress needs a situation. When people think about my style, I think they see that I put a narrative into the story. Rather than just putting clothes on the girls, I’m focusing on the overall direction of the campaign. I’m working on campaigns, but it’s more than just styling. 'At this point, I wouldn’t call myself a stylist.

Grace by grace coddington