Bethan Laura Wood: "Scent can be a visual language"

At Salone del Mobile 2025, Byredo entrusted British designer and artist Bethan Laura Wood with the most creative and vibrant interpretation of its aesthetic. A collaboration built on pattern, color, scent, and movement, which turned the Milan store in Piazza Meda, a cargo bike, and even a newsstand into a continuous sensorial narrative. But how does a project like this come to life? “Often everything starts with an observation: I might visit a place, take photos, explore materials, or, as in this case, respond to an invitation from a brand,” Bethan Laura Wood tells us. “With Byredo, I studied their identity, what makes them unique, and looked for points of contact with my own world.”

Fragrances as characters in an imaginary city: interview with Bethan Laura Wood

The heart of the project is the installation developed across interiors and exteriors, conceived as a true sensorial city. Bethan explains: “I liked the idea that each fragrance could become a different identity, as if each one lived in a building in the city. I created windows through which people could peek into these imaginary homes and discover the soul of each scent.” A powerful way to visualize what normally remains invisible: perfume. “Each essence has its own personality. It’s an intimate, personal choice, and it’s beautiful to imagine them ‘inhabiting’ a visual space,” she adds.

A moving pattern

One of the most exciting challenges was making the pattern fluid, suitable for both static and moving surfaces. “I love that the pattern glides across the city on the cargo bike. I even had a ride on it, and watching it move was such fun!” Bethan says with a smile. She adds: “What I love about this project is that it evolves both indoors and outdoors, and that it came to life in spaces I’d never had a dialogue with before.”

The role of color and material in the project with Byredo

For Bethan Laura Wood, colors and materials are a primary language. “I love colors in combination. I’m drawn to certain palettes, but green, for example, fascinates me because it has so many shades, from industrial neon to grass green. But I use it sparingly precisely because I love it so much,” she confesses. It’s not just about color, but also touch and physical sensations: “I’m a designer of physical objects. For me, touching, feeling, smelling... all these are essential aspects. I want every sense to be involved in my work.”

The creative process: instinct and research

Bethan’s method is a hybrid of instinct, craft, and technology. “I start by drawing by hand, then move on to mockups, and finally to digital. For this project, I had to figure out how to make the pattern both opaque and transparent, experimenting with vinyl and its various chromatic possibilities.” The collaboration with Byredo began with an invitation from curator Mathieu Meyer. “I’ve known Mathieu for years, through other designers like Fabian Capello. When he invited me, I was thrilled, because I already knew Byredo and used the fragrance Young Rose! I was fascinated by their black-and-white aesthetic, very graphic, and I was excited to think about how to merge it with my world of color.”