The story of Ben Gorham and the founding of Byredo is an oft-told tale in the beauty industry. Born in Stockholm and raised in Toronto by his mother, who was originally from Mumbai, Gorham trainedto be a professional basketball player before visa issues back in Sweden stunted his dream.After a stint working in construction and earning a degree in fine art, he hada chance meeting with perfumer Pierre Wulff that sparkedhis interest in the ability of perfume to trigger memories and recreate moments in time. Portrait of Ben Gorham featured in the October 2020 issue of Wallpaper*.Photography byMarcus Ohlsson.From there, Byredo was born and quickly became an empire of cultural cachet that now spans leatherwear, jewellery, and a make-up line. Throughout it all, Gorhamhas used the brand as a platform both to collaborate with major names across various industries –musician Travis Scott, make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench– and to champion the work of up-and-coming creatives.Now, Gorham has just launched one of his most personal creations yet: Mumbai Noise, a scent inspired by his childhood trips to visit his mother’s family. And while the fragrance is anintimate portrayal of Gorham’s own life, like all Byredo launches it also has a broader aim. Ben Gorham on Mumbai: memories and modernity To create the launch campaign, the brand enlisted the young photographer Ashish Shah to offer a vision of Mumbai’s creative subcultures and contemporary youth movements, scenesthat tend to receive little exposure in mainstream Western culture.Here, Gorham discusses his Indian heritage, translating that personal history into scent, and why he feels it is important to champion the work of young artists.Wallpaper*: Why did you want to create a fragrance that expressed your Indian heritage?Ben Gorham: There are many of my memories and odes to India woven into our collections, but Mumbai Noise perhaps has the most overt link to my childhood trips to [the Mumbai suburb of] Chembur. It was a place I went to spend time with my grandmother and the memories are vivid. Mumbai hits you the minute you get off the plane, it’s a sensory overload. The smells and the noise and the motion of the city as it moves at this intense pace. It has an overwhelming sense of place that you just can’t escape.W*: Why did you want to work withAshish Shahon this campaign?BG: I was drawn to Ashish because of the modernity and reality of his work and his distinct lens on his home country. Beyond the scent, I wanted the campaign to capture the hearts and minds of contemporary India. Mumbai has evolved at an astounding pace – it changed drastically in the years that I didn’t visit – yet the way the rest of the world continues to depict India remains so clichéd.
