Chris Bartlett
Chris Bartlett brought a rare dual perspective to perfumery: the artistry of creation and the business of raw materials. After his sudden passing in July 2024, the fragrance community lost someone whose career bridged both sides of the industry with uncommon fluency. Bartlett spent formative years at Stafford Allen and Naarden International, building expertise in formulation and market demands before joining ingredients supplier RC Treatt. This trajectory gave him something most perfumers never acquire: direct access to ingredient sourcing and supply chains. He founded Pell Wall as an extension of this philosophy, producing hand-made, exclusive fragrances that reflected his belief in craftsmanship over mass production. His work with Zoologist's debut collection, particularly Beaver and Elephant, demonstrated his ability to translate unconventional concepts into wearable compositions. Beyond his commercial creations, Bartlett maintained an online presence through the Pell Wall Perfumes Blog, offering insights and education to the DIY fragrance community. His unexpected death left a gap in the industry,惋惜ing a practitioner who understood perfumery from soil to skin.
The hits
Notable creations
The signature
How Chris composes
Bartlett favored natural materials and compositions that showcased ingredient quality over molecular novelty. His leather woody signature appeared throughout his work, from the animalic depths of Zoologist Beaver to the mineral-dusted warmth of Pell Wall scents. He brought an ingredients supplier's sensibility to creative work, selecting materials for their genuine character rather than trendiness or novelty. His compositions tended toward the structured and intentional, with clear olfactory architecture that revealed its logic to attentive wearers. Bartlett demonstrated particular skill with animalic materials and resinous bases, building scents with substance and longevity. His approach balanced craftsmanship traditions with the practical knowledge of someone who understood exactly what went into each raw material he selected.
Philosophy
What drives Chris
Bartlett believed in learning through doing. Rather than formal training, he traced his perfumery education to teenage experiments with essential oils and extensive self-directed reading. This hands-on philosophy shaped how he approached both his craft and his business relationships. Working simultaneously as a perfumer and an ingredients supplier gave him a vantage point few in the industry share. He understood material costs, availability challenges, and quality variations in ways that informed his compositions. Bartlett resisted the notion of perfumery as mystical art, favoring instead a craftsperson's relationship with materials: predictable, improvable through practice, and grounded in honest assessment of results. His Pell Wall fragrances reflected this pragmatism, favoring transparency in process and intention.
The houses
Maisons Chris composes for
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