Heritage
A house, in its own words
Steven Broadhurst launched Tommi Sooni out of what he described as frustration with Australia's lack of a perfume brand worth celebrating. In interviews, Broadhurst has explained that he created the house in 2004 because he wanted Australians to have something distinctive to call their own in the fragrance world. He did not come from a traditional perfumery background. Instead, he entered the industry through observation, noticing how scent affected mood and memory, and decided to apply that understanding to building a fragrance brand. The approach was autodidactic in nature. Broadhurst studied raw materials and molecule structures, treating perfume creation as a discipline requiring intention and precision. Fragrantica lists the brand's founding year as 2008, a discrepancy that may reflect when products formally entered the market versus when development began. The brand takes its name from a person close to Broadhurst, lending the house a personal quality. Tommi Sooni perfumes began appearing in dedicated fragrance databases in the late 2000s, with Tarantella released around 2008 and the numbered Eau de Tommi Sooni series following in 2011. Broadhurst has spoken about rejecting guesswork in fragrance creation. His approach treats perfume as a structured discipline rather than purely artistic intuition. He describes learning about raw materials and molecule structures to understand how ingredients interact and perform. The brand's fragrance names suggest narrative and geographic specificity: Tarantella references an Italian dance tradition, while Passerelle hints at bridges or crossings. The numbered Eau de Tommi Sooni series implies a trilogy or ongoing exploration of core house themes. Rather than chasing trends, Tommi Sooni appears to develop scents around concepts or emotional territories, then build the formula to serve that vision. Broadhurst's stated refusal to rely on guesswork suggests a methodical creative process where decisions are grounded in material knowledge.