Description
Ben Gorham is the founder and creator of Byredo Parfums, a line of fragrances. He was born in Stockholm to Canadian parents, while his dad was working on his PhD. As a child, he was very interested in basketball and at 6 foot 5, Gorham went on to play competitively in the U.S. in college and then in Europe. However, looking to play professionally in Europe was a challenge as he was unable to obtain Swedish citizenship, so he quit and ended up attending art school.
Prior jobs also include supermarket clerk and construction worker. Right after graduating from art school, Gorham met Pierre Wulff by chance, who was a perfumer. The meeting sparked an interest and fascination with scents, especially the connection between scent and memory and Gorham wanting to create the scent he remembered from his father. Soon after their meeting, Gorham travelled to India and was inspired by the scents of his childhood and wanted to create fragrances that elicited feelings. Wulff introduced Gorham to top perfumers, Jerome Epinette in New York and Olivia Jiacobetti in Paris, who helped Gorham develop his first scent around 2004. By 2006, Gorham created four more scents, and launched the Byredo collection. In 2008, it became Barney’s second best selling fragrance line. Byredo and Gorham constantly collaboration with the fashion industry, which has helped propel the brand forward. By 2013, the company was generating sales of about $30 million, and a majority share was bought by Manzanita Capital the same year.
