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Jo Malone

Jo Malone London was founded in 1994 by Jo Malone, who opened her first shop on Walton Street, in London. Estée Lauder acquired the house in 1999; its founder led its creative direction until 2006, before leaving. The colognes are named after their raw materials and are designed to be worn together rather than alone.

Jo Malone perfumes

From Jo Malone's kitchen to Walton Street

Joanne Lesley Malone, born in 1963 in southeast London, made her first products at home before opening a shop on Walton Street in October 1994, with a handful of fragrances and almost no budget. The second address, Sloane Street, followed in 1999.

Leonard Lauder, then head of Estée Lauder, visited the shop and proposed the acquisition. The sale took place that same year, for an amount never made public, and carried with it the rights to the founder's name.

Colognes made to be combined

The house's principle comes down to a few things: simple formulas built on two or three raw materials, a name that states those materials, a cream bottle with a black trim identical from one fragrance to the next. Buyers are invited to layer several of them to compose their own accord.

The Cologne Intense line, launched in 2010, applies the same principle to denser compositions, designed for Gulf markets. Seasonal releases expand the range of possible combinations each year, without altering the original vocabulary.

The brand, the person, and the name

Jo Malone remained creative director until 2006, when she left the brand that bears her name. A five-year non-compete clause kept her away from perfumery; she founded Jo Loves in 2011. Creative direction passed to Céline Roux and an in-house team.

The name sold in 1999 remains a point of friction: in March 2026, Estée Lauder brought an action before a British court against Jo Malone, Jo Loves and Zara, over a collaboration whose packaging bore the founder's name.