Fragrance house

Taylor of London

The Taylor of London mark was first used in 1887, while pharmacist John Taylor founded J. N. Taylor Perfumery at 67 Mortimer Street, London, in the late 1880s after developing fragrances in his pharmacy. After the First World War, his son Stanley continued the perfumery until Michael Stewart-Smith bought the business in the 1960s. Stewart-Smith renamed it Taylor of London, moved the shop to Sloane Street in Knightsbridge, and shaped its presentation around traditional English floral imagery and heritage. He made pomanders and potpourri core offerings; in 1964, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust commissioned the brand to supply dried herbs, pomanders, and aromatic blends, leading to transparent packaged potpourri and a larger sachet range. The brand appeared in American Vogue in 1971, and Caswell-Massey became its American partner and distributor in 1977. Taylor of London closed its Sloane Street shop in 1985 and celebrated its centenary in 1987. Lavender is its clearest historically documented fragrance family, followed by rose and violet in its potpourri tradition. The present legal entity, Taylor of London Limited, was incorporated in 2010 and is active.