Heritage
A house, in its own words
The house was founded in 2015 by Sophia Fannon-Howell, a geologist by training who earned her PhD from the University of Manchester before moving into oil and gas data management during the 1990s industry downturn. Fannon-Howell has spoken publicly about pivoting away from geology at short notice, a turn that took her through data work and eventually into fragrance creation. The brand's launch year, 2015, coincided with the release of its full debut collection of six scents: Millicent, Constance, Quentin, Lawrence, Loretta, and Ernest. Rather than building gradually, Deco London arrived with a complete first range, each composition designed to capture a different personality from the interwar period. The debut was composed through a partnership with Robertet, the French fragrance house with roots going back to Grasse in the nineteenth century. From the outset, the label framed itself around a particular historical lens: the cultural flourishing of London between the wars, a period defined by new artistic movements, shifting social codes, and a growing visibility of women in public life. Fannon-Howell has described the brand's origins as rooted in a fascination with those figures and the perfume trends of their time. Deco London frames each fragrance as a portrait rather than a product. The label's creative position is that perfume in the 1920s and 1930s carried a different social charge than it does today, and that recreating the spirit of that era requires attention to both scent and character. Rather than naming fragrances after generic notes or moods, the house attaches each composition to a named figure, Millicent, Constance, Quentin, Lawrence, Loretta, Ernest, suggesting a narrative or archetype behind the formula. The house has stated that its debut range draws on the perfume trends of the 1920s, signaling an interest in historical accuracy as well as modern wearability. This dual focus, period reference plus contemporary relevance, runs through the brand's published statements and interviews. Fannon-Howell's own unusual path, from geology to data management to fragrance, also shapes the house's outlook: a willingness to cross disciplines and treat scent-making as a form of cultural research rather than purely commercial enterprise.