In a world where fragrance shelves are overflowing and launches come by the dozen, Ffern continues to defy every industry norm—quietly, artfully, and seasonally. The British brand is not only beloved for its meticulously crafted natural perfumes, but for its rare and poetic approach: each fragrance is released just once, in harmony with the solstices and equinoxes, and only to those who’ve joined its now-legendary ledger. It’s not a subscription. It’s a ceremony.
For Spring 25, Ffern co-founders (and siblings) Owen Mears and Emily Cameron set out to reinterpret one of perfumery’s most storied blooms: violet. But this is no powdery vintage echo—this is violet reimagined in the wild. Anchored in orris root and lifted by lemon zest, peppermint, jonquil, jasmine, and a breath of woodland air, Spring 25 is equal parts fairytale and fresh awakening. It’s verdant, luminous, and surprisingly bold—like childhood joy wrapped in moss and mystery.
We sat down with Owen and Emily to talk about the craftsmanship behind this release, their love of nature’s rhythms, and the slow, intentional philosophy that guides everything from scent design to sustainability. What unfolds is a portrait of two creatives building a business with purpose—and an invitation to experience spring not just as a season, but as a feeling.
Ffern isn’t just a fragrance brand—it feels more like a secret society, with the ledger as the only way in. Why did you choose this model, and how does it shape the way people experience each seasonal release?
Our approach stemmed from our love for the seasons and nature – to honour this, we had to make the model as sustainable as possible, finding ways to tread lightly. By making just enough fragrances for the members named on our ledger (as well as a few bottles for our archive), we’re able to maintain our own high natural and ethical standards, minimizing production and waste by ensuring that we’re never making more bottles than we need.
Our core mission at Ffern is to help connect people more to nature – hence being guided entirely by the seasons to create four unique fragrances each year, releasing them at each of the equinoxes and solstices, when the seasons turn.
Our members have really taken to experiencing fragrance this way, and over the years their feedback, often so personal, has been better than we could have ever imagined. We’ve found that people love waiting for each seasonal release, they feel the turning of the year more, and find the fragrances bring them closer to nature’s ancient rhythms and cycles. The ephemeral nature of our fragrances seems to only heighten this experience.
Spring 25 feels like a poetic tribute to the fleeting beauty of violets. What was the inspiration behind this particular fragrance?
For spring, we truly began with violets. We’d used violet leaf absolute before, in the fig accord we made for Autumn 23 – it’s this incredible dark green liquid, like a magical potion, that has that unmistakable powdery, sweet, fresh floral note. Lots of people think of violet as an old-fashioned note, and we wanted to modernise it, finding our own spin. From here, we imagined this sunlit spring woodland – like something in a fairytale. A place where velvet moss gleams on silvered branches… A clearing, carpeted with purple flowers. Violets in their natural habitat.
Some perfumes command attention, while others whisper. Where does Spring 25 sit on that spectrum? Is it meant to linger in the air or be discovered up close?
All our fragrances are made with very high quality natural ingredients – because of their molecular complexity these evolve quite differently with each wearer, shifting and developing over the course of the day. Some ingredients will fade as others come to the fore – it’s highly personal, and delightfully unpredictable.
Saying that, we do think Spring 25 is one of our bolder fragrances – mainly because of that strong focus on one ingredient we talked about above. To us, the floral punch of the Violet leaf really makes this one stand out – in our blend with other spring florals, like jonquil daffodil, jasmine and orris (made from iris root), but with touches of cleaner notes like peppermint and lemon, it sings out so beautifully. It’s really joyous!
What’s the ‘surprise’ note in Spring 25—the one that lingers in the background but transforms the entire composition?
It has to be the orris – an incredible ingredient that takes years to make. Its scent is suede-like, with something of milk and earth, and it has its own hint of violet, which makes it pair so well with the violet leaf. In Spring 25, the orris adds a depth and velvety texture that anchors the fragrance’s lighter, sparkling aspects – it was our final addition, and really elevated and enriched the fragrance.
What we love about orris, is that it remains deeply rooted to the soil in which it’s grown, as well as to the people who tend to it. After three or four years of flowering, the scentless roots are dug up by hand, and are matured for another several years. Once mature, these roots are powdered, mixed with water and distilled by steam to produce a semi-solid oil, known as orris butter.
Lizzie Riches’ artwork Violet plays a central role in this release. What drew you to her work initally, and how does Violet reflect the spirit of Spring 25?
We’ve admired Lizzie Riches’ luminous portraits for years. The way her characters embody nature, its light and the spirit of the seasons… In some ways they reminded us of Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies, the botanically accurate watercolours that illustrated our childhoods.
Lizzie’s depiction of Violet is cherubic, and as fresh as spring itself. Against lilac skies and springtime oaks, she is bathed in pale yellow sunlight. We love the white violets that Lizzie has chosen for Violet’s doublet – contrasting so effectively with the posy of purple ones. It’s an ethereal and unexpected touch that with the Jennie Wren and hovering Meadow Brown, lends a delicacy to this aspect of our springtime fairytale – and illustrates the precision and meaningful choices that drew us to Lizzie’s work.
What was the single most important feeling you wanted to capture in Spring 25? And how do you think it differs from past releases?
This season, we really wanted to evoke the nostalgia of childhood stories – those feelings of excitement, joy and discovery. That unadulterated sense of wonder, with little touches of darkness and mystery woven in.
What moment of the day do you think Spring 25 is best worn? Is it a morning fragrance, an afternoon scent, or something to savor at night?
We hope that between its verdant and velvety facets, our Spring 25 fragrance can carry wearers through the course of the day. Our fragrances are inspired by moments in nature, particular moods, ingredients, memories and feelings – we don’t typically create them with one time of day in mind. That said, this is a fragrance that sits really beautifully on a spring morning… We can’t wait to wear it come May, when the season is at its best!
If you could describe Spring 25 in three words—not the notes, but the emotion of it—what would they be?
Verdant – awakening – mystery.
To experience Spring 25 for yourself, you’ll need to join Ffern’s seasonal ledger—an exclusive list that opens ahead of each release. Bottles are crafted in limited quantities for members only, so once they’re gone, they’re truly gone. To reserve yours, visit ffern.co and join the ledger before the next seasonal turn.
