What inspired you to reimagine and relaunch your fragrance line, L’Amour Mère? What felt important to get right this time around?
I have grown so much as a person over the 10 years since I launched Natalie. My design aesthetic has evolved and I am always falling in love with new scents and combinations of fragrance notes. I wanted L’Amour Mère to reflect my design aesthetic as well as the person that I am today. It took a long time for me to feel comfortable in my own skin. L’Amour Mère reflects the woman that I am today by way of the women that came before me, and it looks toward the woman that my daughter Clover will become.
The brand is an homage to the women who’ve shaped your life. How did motherhood, friendship and legacy influence the scents and storytelling behind the line?
As I lean into and accept my more authentic self I think about who the women were that imprinted themselves upon me—my grandma, my mom, my sisters and my girlfriends. My mom was a warm, loving, funny person who filled our house with her beauty. I love to give gifts and write letters and surround myself with beauty—which can be really simple, like seasonal fruit and flowers and candlelight. In L.A., in spring, which is now, the air is perfumed with orange blossoms, honeysuckle and acacia, the roses are awakening, we have gardenias and wisteria to look forward to, and night blooming jasmine. There is so much natural wonder here and I am inspired by all of it.
Your daughter Clover stars in the new L’Amour Mère campaign. What did it mean to include her in this chapter?
One of the tough things about losing a parent as a child is that it is hard to feel secure in the world. I lost my anchor, my mirror, my safe place. Becoming a mother grew me into a woman with purpose and passion and fortitude. Clover is a naturally beautiful girl who is just starting to be interested in her heritage. I brought her with me to a photoshoot and the photographer shot us together and then did a bunch of photos of her by herself. The photos capture an essence of Clover and that essence reminds me of my mom. A kind of steely innocence.
Gregson Wagner's daughter Clover wears a t-shirt picturing her grandmother, Natalie Wood, in L'Amour Mère's latest campaign.
Photo Courtesy of Brand
Fragrance is such a personal medium. How do you hope people feel when they wear L’Amour Mère?
Scent is so powerful. I think scent and loss can be deeply connected and when I say loss, I don’t only mean it in a negative way. The scents of our childhood reflect and anchor the adults we become. I hope when people discover the brand they are attracted to the aesthetic and the notes, but as they dig deeper, they discover that L’Amour Mère is about abiding love for our grandmothers, our mothers, our daughters, our girlfriends—any of the humans that had a hand in shaping the people that we are today.
“Scent is so powerful. The scents of our childhood reflect and anchor the adults we become.” —NATASHA GREGSON WAGNER
How would you describe the signature of the collection?
I am a white floral girl and love feminine, delicate scents. I love roses, citrus notes, jasmine and peony so the signature is feminine and floral, but all of the scents are rooted in the earth, whether musk, vanilla, amber or honey. Each scent took over two years to create because I am so picky. I wanted to make sure that I could wear them over and over and not get sick of them. We used the highest quality oils and sourced them responsibly. They have real staying power and I mean that in every sense of the word!
Natasha Gregson Wagner
Photo by Jonathan Ressler
How do you balance honoring your legacy while building something independently?
I am 55 and my mom died when she was 43. I am now at a place where I feel like I have become my mother’s mother. I like to share my story so people know that you can survive a devastating loss and create a meaningful and joyful life for yourself. Shining a light on an icon—someone I knew intimately, and allowing people to see that she was also a living, breathing human being with vulnerabilities, faults, struggles, dreams, heartbreaks and triumphs is important.
What’s next?
Perfume oil rollerballs are launching for spring, and I’m developing a new scent inspired by passion and flowers that bloom at night. I’m also co-curating “More Than Love: The Life and Art of Natalie Wood” at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center and re-releasing Reflections on a Legendary Life with my co-author Manoah Bowman.
