From fragrance to festive keepsakes: Inside Jo Malone London x Arpita Mehta's new collaboration

The uncontrollable sweet tooth, the soirées, and a hint of sparkle go a long way during the festive season—and the Jo Malone London x Arpita Mehta's collaboration is right on cue. Following the success of last year’s association, the couturier reunites with the British fragrance house, giving us another reason to splurge this Diwali. This partnership brings together Mehta’s intricate craftsmanship and Jo Malone London’s sensory world. Think signature scents, embroidered potlis with mirrors reflecting the light, bespoke bottle neck charms and scarf ties that add a playful finishing touch to every gift. With a little more love, detail and whimsy tucked into the familiar, the collaboration brings its own dose of Diwali magic, which, as Mehta puts it, is all about “the extra love you put into everything.” Bazaar India chats with coutureier Arpita Mehta and Sneha Parikh, Brand Director, Fragrance Division, Estée Lauder Companies India, about returning to the collaboration, the art of festive gifting, and finding a little magic in the familiar.

Harper’s Bazaar: The campaign explores the line between reality and illusion, with Diwali seen through a more enchanting lens. What does a little “magic” mean to you during the festive season?

Arpita Mehta: A little magic during the festive season, for me, is the extra love you put into everything. It’s in the details – the way you dress, decorate, gather, gift and create an atmosphere for the people around you. Diwali has this wonderful ability to make the everyday feel heightened and special.

That’s what I loved about the campaign. We’ve taken those familiar festive moments and 
looked at them through a more unexpected, almost dreamlike lens. There’s a sense of wonder in not quite knowing where reality ends, and imagination begins. For me, that is where the magic comes in – taking something familiar and adding enough surprise, beauty and whimsy to make you see it differently.
 

Sneha Parikh: To me, magic is the feeling of being transported – when the ordinary momentarily disappears, and you find yourself somewhere a little more wonderful. During the festive season, I find that  magic in the atmosphere of Diwali: the anticipation, the gathering of people, the energy, the sense that something special is about to happen. That is very much the world of Jo Malone London.

We create a world that invites you in – one filled with beauty, imagination and a sense of possibility. And within that world, there are always unexpected moments of joy: a playful detail, a surprising gesture, a touch of whimsy. Fragrance has a wonderful ability to transport you too – to evoke a place, a person or a memory in an instant.

For me, that is the magic of Jo Malone London – making you feel that you have stepped out 
of the everyday and into somewhere a little more extraordinary. It’s set in a world where the 
ordinary gives way to the extraordinary, the campaign plays with the line between reality and 
illusion, bringing a touch of Jo Malone London magic to every moment.

Harper’s Bazaar: You’re returning for a second festive season. What made this collaboration one you wanted to build on, and how has the idea evolved this time around?

AM: I’ve been a Jo Malone London loyalist from the very beginning. It’s a brand I trust, use daily and genuinely enjoy. Coming together for the first time was exciting for me, and seeing it culminate into such a strong association made me feel that this was just the beginning. We were very aligned then, and this time around, we’ve only gotten more in sync with our ideas, which pushed us to take the collaboration a step further and build something stronger for the festive season.

This year, we wanted to go deeper into the idea of treasured keepsakes and expand the 
collection, giving people more options to gift, use and hold on to beyond the festive moment. 
We’ve introduced new bags alongside the much-loved potli, as well as smaller details that 
make the gifting experience feel more personal and enduring.

What makes this year particularly special for me is seeing all of this brought to life through the Jo Malone London lens. The film captures the collaboration in a world of wonder, whimsy and unexpected delight – it takes the craft and detail we’ve created and places it within the 
enchanting world of Jo Malone London.

SP: Last year was incredibly special for Jo Malone London – it marked our first-ever collaboration in India as we partnered with Arpita Mehta, for a global gifting first. This year, we have built on the success of last year’s collaboration, taking the partnership a step further while staying  true to the distinctive design language and spirit that brought the two brands together. What is particularly different about this year is that we have evolved the collaboration with a  fresh creative expression - our campaign captures the magic of the festive season through the 

Jo Malone London lens - elevated, enchanting, and full of unexpected delight. Familiar moments of gathering and gifting are given a touch of the extraordinary, as the line between reality and illusion begins to blur. A gift becomes a moment of discovery; details reveal themselves in unexpected ways, and the everyday is transformed through the distinctive world of Jo Malone London.

We have expanded the gifting collection as well - Arpita has created three bags for Jo Malone  London this year, bringing the collaboration to five distinctive gifting offerings, available with their Jo Malone London purchases. It gives our clients more ways to discover, personalise and celebrate the art of gifting this festive season.

HB: This year's collection brings together fragrance with Indian craftsmanship through Arpita's bags, mirror work, charms and scarf ties. What does this intersection of fragrance, fashion and design add to the gifting experience?

SP: Gifting is at the heart of the Jo Malone London world–it is about the thought, the anticipation and the joy of creating a moment that feels personal. With A Little Light, A Little Delight, we wanted to invite our audience into that world in a way that feels unexpected, enchanting and full of little moments of delight. Reuniting with Arpita Mehta brings her distinctive approach to craft and adornment into this world, creating a beautiful dialogue between her design language and our own art of gifting. 

For us, gifting has never been about a single product; it is about creating a complete sensory 
moment. Fragrance is inherently emotional–it is tied to memory in a way very few things are. When you layer that with tactile Indian craftsmanship – mirrorwork that catches the light, our signature potli that becomes a keepsake, a charm you can hold in your hand, or a scarf tie that can be styled long after the festive moment – the gift becomes something more: a keepsake. 

That is the beauty of bringing fragrance, fashion and design together; the gift engages the 
senses, feels deeply personal and lives on well beyond the moment of giving. Together, we wanted to make the familiar feel a little more extraordinary, with thoughtful details that turn the act of giving into an experience to be remembered and treasured.
 

HB: This collection brings together fragrance, fashion and craftsmanship through the bags, charms and scarf ties. How did you approach translating the world of Jo Malone London into something tangible and distinctly your own?

AM: Reuniting with Jo Malone London for the festive season was a wonderful opportunity to see their world of fragrance through my design lens. Together, we wanted to give the art of gifting a new festive expression - bringing in my love for mirrorwork, intricate detail and the joy of adornment through the potlis, bottle charms and the scarf-tie I designed.

We have introduced three bags to the Jo Malone London gifting experience. A versatile velvet bag features three interchangeable straps, including a signature mirror-embellished strap, allowing it to move effortlessly from day to night and festive occasions to everyday moments. Alongside it, a dust-pink embroidered bag, hand-finished with intricate mirrorwork, brings a timeless elegance to the collection. Completing the collection is the much-loved metallic potli, returning from last year following its overwhelming response - a quintessential festive silhouette, it is reimagined with our contemporary sensibility and signature mirrorwork.

Extending Jo Malone London’s signature approach to thoughtful gifting are bottle neck 
charms, adding a personal finishing touch to every cologne, and a midnight floral scarf tie that can be used to adorn a Jo Malone London gift bag or styled in multiple ways beyond the festive moment. What you see is an extension of both brands coming together, Indian craftsmanship, like mirrorwork, blended with Jo Malone London’s classic, understated aesthetic. These pieces have been created to come together beautifully for the festive season.
 

HB: Mirrorwork is such a recognisable part of your design vocabulary. What draws you to it, and how did you reinterpret it for this collaboration?

AM: I’ve always been in awe of mirrorwork. Since I was a child, its reflective nature and the way it catches and reflects light have mesmerised me.

For this collaboration, you’ll see it come through in the bag straps, tassels and an entire hand-embroidered classic mirrorwork potli bag. It felt like a natural way to bring a part of my design vocabulary into the world of Jo Malone London.

HB: Fragrance and fashion are both deeply tied to memory and identity. Is there a particular scent, festive memory or sensory detail that instantly takes you back to a moment in your life?

AM: English Pear & Freesia by Jo Malone London is one of my favourite fragrances. I love it as a perfume, candle or cream. Although, my festive favourite from Jo Malone London is Velvet Rose & Oud Cologne Intense. There is something warm, rich and enveloping about it that feels especially beautiful for the festive season.

And, thanks to me, my husband Kunal is now obsessed with Jo Malone London too! We 
actually share the Cypress & Grapevine Cologne, and I think that’s a really cute thought, having a fragrance that we both enjoy and associate with each other. 

Lead image: The brand 

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