Heron Preston and Sabrina Albarello are bringing their respective design MOs — and their connection — to fragrance.
The couple, who are also co-creatives at Preston’s eponymous fashion label, have teamed with French fragrance brand Henry Jacques for its second “In All Intimacy” collection, developing a pair of perfumes informed by their relationship and creativity.
Called Heron by Henry Jacques and Sabrina by Henry Jacques, the fragrances start at $1,370 for the 75-ml. Les Brumes iterations and $2,200 for the more concentrated, 30-ml. Les Essences versions, now available for purchase online.
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Testament to the pair’s synergy, the scents share notes of tonka bean, benzoin and vanilla and diverge from there, with Albarello leaning into spicy-woody notes of cardamom, clove and musk while Preston looked to a more crisp bergamot, rose and hay blend.
“I had an idea of what smelled commercial, and I didn’t want it to smell like any of that — I wanted it to smell unique, and I was super particular in how I got to that finish line,” said Preston, who indeed cycled through 17-plus iterations before nailing “the one.”
“It’s very Heron,” laughed Albarello — of her counterpart’s composition, yes, but also the lead-up to its final form.
“We were doing our campaign shoot and [Preston] was like, ‘OK, it’s number 17 — this is it,’ and I remember feeling very proud, because until the day before, it was this other version,” continued Albarello, who designs the Heron Preston womenswear line, while Preston oversees menswear.
“Fragrance was definitely a new challenge and a whole new world, but it still reflects my process — I’ll sleep on something, wake up and completely change my mind,” said Preston, whose fragrance of choice prior to linking with Henry Jacques had always been “sort of just a blend of my lotion, deodorant, soap and shampoo, and however they connect to the environment I’m in.”
When Henry Jacques opened its ninth store and first Paris flagship in 2022, the brand enlisted Preston —who is also a DJ — to spin at the event, inadvertently sparking the collaboration.
“Fragrance, for us, always starts with an encounter,” said Anne-Lise Cremona, Henry Jacques’ chief executive officer and daughter of founders Henry and Yvette Cremona. Founded in 1975, the brand is best known for its bespoke Sur Measure fragrances, which cost $103,670 per bottle. Since Cremona took the helm in 2011, however, the brand has rolled out a range of ready-to-wear fragrances, available for purchase online and at the brand’s boutiques, and launched In All Intimacy in 2022 — that time in collaboration with tennis champion Rafael Nadal and his wife, Maria Perello.
“[In All Intimacy] is a wonderful way for us to share our know-how…while also telling a story and seeing our world through the designers’ eyes,” continued Cremona.
For Albarello and Preston, too, part of the appeal was the opportunity to dabble in a new medium.
“It was a completely new process, but at the same time I always know what I like — in the design process or even figuring out something I want to buy,” said Albarello. “But this is Heron and my first time doing a project together in this way, which was amazing.”
As for how Preston would describe Albarello’s fragrance?
“It pulls you in — it makes you want to get close. There’s a sort of airiness to it that almost feels like you’re running through a big open field on the best spring day ever.”
