The Making of Il Giardino

When did travel become an exercise in competitive list-making, the desire to experience a destination distilled into a checklist of sights to take in, views to savour, meals to relish? We adore this side of travel, the relentless drive to uncover a hidden gem, an adrenaline rush of experiences that fuels the imagination and provokes yet more lists of future places to explore. 

But we also seek out its antidote: a place to wander with no end goal in mind or simply somewhere to sit and be still, surrounded by nature. Il Giardino, our new home fragrance collection, is an ode to such a place. Named for gardens everywhere, it celebrates manicured enclosures and ramshackle plots alike, the naturally uplifting green floral scent soothing the mind as it invigorates the senses.

Our founder and creative director Almira Armstrong says she was inspired by the world’s grandest gardens – the Royal Botanic Gardens in London and Sydney, Morocco’s Jardin Majorelle, Claude Monet’s waterside wonderland in Giverny – but equally that she wanted to channel the small “secret” gardens she loved to play in as a child. 

“The mystery of simply walking down the garden path brought a curiosity and the excitement of uncovering hidden coves,” she recalls.

A consummate traveller, Almira continues to seek out such places with their promise of “a serene escape in my every day. Even now, when I travel the world I love walking into gardens as they trigger emotions of serenity, inner peace and a temporary escape from the stresses of daily life.”

All of this experience and emotion has been poured into the creation of Il Giardino, capturing the essence of escape with an inflection of nostalgia for the simple days of childhood. Almira says the scent has been on her mind since she founded LUMIRA a decade ago and it’s fitting that it would come to fruition as the company celebrates 10 years as Australia’s finest niche fragrance company.

In her mind, the fragrance was always going to be a green floral “because I love walking barefoot on the grass, but I also love the intoxicating scent of white florals – magnolia, gardenia and jasmine. I was hoping to recreate the scent of a summertime rain shower, the green grass and white florals awash with raindrops.”

Available in a Luxury Candle, and a Room Spray, Il Giardino brings the garden indoors, filling a space with its heady floral scent. Light the Candle, use the Room Spray to lightly refresh curtains and upholstery and slip the Drawer Liners into a linen closet.

The verdant freshness is particularly well-suited to morning or lunch-time soirees, Almira suggests:

“Imagine it as an olfactory backdrop to a garden party with friends.”

Written by Michelle Bateman