Grandiflora

Key Takeaways

• Grandiflora began as a small flower shop in Sydney's Potts Point in 1995, founded by Saskia Havekes, and has grown into one of Australia's most distinctive fragrance houses.
• The fragrance range launched in Paris in 2013 with two fragrances named after their perfumers, both built around the rare Magnolia grandiflora bloom.
• Every Grandiflora fragrance is a meticulous study of a single rare flower, collaborating with some of the most respected perfumers in the world including Michel Roudnitska and Bertrand Duchaufour.
• The 2021 anniversary fragrance Grandiflora SASKIA captures the spirit of the Potts Point store itself, marking over 25 years as a cultural landmark.
• This is Australian floristry translated into fine fragrance, with a seriousness and specificity that sets it apart from most floral perfumery.

In the heart of Sydney's Potts Point, a small flower shop named Grandiflora opened in 1995. Founded by Saskia Havekes, it has grown over the decades from a quaint neighbourhood florist into something considerably more significant: a creative force across floristry, literature, interior styling and, eventually, fragrance. The journey from flowers to perfume was not a marketing decision. It was the natural extension of a lifelong obsession with rare and exquisite blooms.

An Aesthetic That Transcends Flowers

Saskia Havekes brings drama and scale to everything she makes, whether it is an artful posy or a grand installation. Her influence stretches across interior styling, fashion, hospitality and editorial, and the sensibility that runs through all of it is consistent: beauty drawn from nature, shaped by the seasons, and never reduced to the merely decorative. That same sensibility defines the fragrance range she has built under the Grandiflora name.

From Flowers to Fragrance

In 2013, Grandiflora launched its first two fragrances in Paris. Both were built around the Magnolia grandiflora flower and both were named after the perfumers who created them. Sandrine was a tribute to perfumer Sandrine Videault, who passed away shortly after completing the formula. It captures the scent of newly opened magnolia blooms. Michel was named after Michel Roudnitska and sought to capture the same flower at the zenith of its bloom. These were fragrances made with genuine reverence, not just for the flower but for the craft behind translating it into scent.

A Growing Floral Library

The range has expanded carefully over the years, each new fragrance a study of a single rare bloom rather than a broader concept. Madagascan Jasmine was created in 2015 in collaboration with Michel Roudnitska. Queen of the Night followed in 2016. Boronia arrived in 2017, crafted with perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. Each release carries the same level of specificity and intention as the first two, treating the flower as subject matter worthy of serious investigation rather than simply pleasant inspiration.

Grandiflora SASKIA

In 2021, marking the store's 25th anniversary, Grandiflora released its most personal fragrance to date. Grandiflora SASKIA does not focus on a single rare flower. Instead it attempts to capture the spirit and atmosphere of the Potts Point store itself, the place that has been a cultural cornerstone of the neighbourhood for over two decades. It is the fragrance as autobiography, as much about the place and the person as about the botanicals within it.

Shop Grandiflora at Connection Parfumerie

The Grandiflora collection is available online at Connection Parfumerie. For those drawn to floral perfumery that takes its subject seriously, this is one of the most considered ranges an Australian house has produced.