Heritage
A house, in its own words
The origins of Lili Bermuda trace back to 1928, when William Blackburn Smith, a chemist with a love for the sea, opened a small perfumery in Hamilton with his daughter Madeline Smith. Their first offering, Easter Lily, was marketed as a tribute to the island’s spring bloom and set a tone of local inspiration that still guides the house. In 1939 the Bermuda Historical Monuments Trust acquired the Bailey House, a 19th‑century building that later became the brand’s creative hub. By the 1950s the perfumery had expanded its catalogue, adding scents that referenced Bermuda’s sailing heritage and tropical gardens. The 1980s saw a revival of interest in heritage brands, prompting Lili Bermuda to release Paradise in 1989, a fragrance that blended citrus and marine notes to echo the island’s reputation as a holiday haven. The turn of the millennium brought a new generation of perfumers; in 2006 the brand introduced Coral and Navy, both of which referenced specific coastal landmarks and earned modest acclaim among collectors. In 2011 a team of divers and archaeologists recovered a sealed 19th‑century perfume bottle from the wreck of the Mary Celestia, a ship that sank off Bermuda’s south shore while en route to Charleston. The recovered scent inspired the 2014 Mary Celestia perfume, marking the first time Lili Bermuda incorporated a genuine historic formula into its modern line. The house celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2018 with a series of events at Stewart Hall, highlighting its continuous production on the island and its commitment to preserving Bermuda’s olfactory heritage. Today, under the direction of master perfumer Isabelle Ramsay‑Brackstone, Lili Bermuda continues to develop new fragrances such as Nautilus (2019) while maintaining the hand‑crafted processes established a century ago. Lili Bermuda frames scent as a direct translation of place. The brand’s statements describe each perfume as an artistic reflection of the island’s natural beauty, from the pure wind over the cliffs to the salty tang of the Atlantic. This philosophy emerged from the founders’ belief that a fragrance should evoke a memory of a specific landscape rather than a generic mood. The house therefore sources inspiration from Bermuda’s geography, history and cultural rituals, translating them into olfactory narratives that are both personal and communal. Isabelle Ramsay‑Brackstone, who leads the creative team, emphasizes a disciplined approach: she studies local flora, maritime weather patterns and historic records before formulating a scent, ensuring that each note has a tangible link to the island. Sustainability also features in the brand’s values; the perfumery prioritises locally sourced ingredients when possible and supports marine conservation projects that protect the very environments that inspire its creations. By anchoring its vision in place, Lili Bermuda aims to offer wearers a portable piece of Bermuda, a scent that can transport a moment of island life to any corner of the world.