Frances Coombe

In the midst of the international fashion-week schedules, DEBORAH FULSANG e-chats with model Frances Coombe about perfume and Paris.

QUESTION: What scent do you usually wear when you’re going to walk the runway?
COOMBE: The first perfume I bought was Lola by Marc Jacobs. I thought Karlie Kloss was so beautiful and effortless, I had to smell like her.

QUESTION: What does Paris smell like in your experience?
COOMBE: Paris smells like fresh baguettes, pastries, and espresso in the morning.

QUESTION: What is one (or two) of your favourite scent memories?
COOMBE: I’ve always loved wearing perfume, even from a young age. Collecting bottles of a wide range of scents, from the floral hues of Princess by Vera Wang (water lily, apple, mandarin meringue, and golden apricot skin, dark chocolate, amber, musk, and vanilla), to the musky smell of Hot Couture by Givenchy (raspberry dew, jasmine, bergamot, white musk), I love it all.
I believe perfume should be worn as an accessory, to match how you feel and dress each day. One scent in particular I really fell in love with is one my mom used to wear when she was a teenager: Opium by YSL. Oriental, soft, spicy but not too overwhelming. Every time I wear Opium I feel filled by my mothers love and youthfulness, aware of the decades of women, old and young, who have worn it before me.

QUESTION: Who is the best smelling person you ever met and what did they smell like?
COOMBE: I love the way my boyfriend smelt when I first met him. He was wearing Bleu de Chanel.

PHOTO: FILIPO DEL VITA
AN EXCERPT OF THIS INTERVIEW FIRST APPEARED AT HOLT RENFREW MUSE.