www.timeslive.co.za – 23rd January, 2014

By Pearl Boshomane

How does one star make a fragrance stand out in the oversaturated world of celebrity perfumes? By making it marijuana-infused, of course.

Legendary Withnail and I actor Richard E Grant, born in Swaziland and educated in South Africa, has collaborated with UK department store Liberty on a unisex fragrance due out in April.

Grant told The Daily Telegraph the idea came from his friend, designer Anya Hindmarch, after she noticed him smelling plants.

He said: “I always have 100 things on the go. I’ve been working on the perfume for two years, being taught at the knee of ‘a nose’ in Paris.”

The fragrance, called Jack, has notes of lime, clove, mandarin, tobacco and marijuana.

The bottle design will be British-inspired: it will come in “pillar-box red casing and feature vintage bunting calico”.

The world of celebrity fragrances is lucrative. Sky News has estimated the fragrances rake in £3-billion a year. Stars ranging from Rihanna and Taylor Swift to Bruce Willis and Michael Jordan have lines (Willis has just released his third fragrance, named Personal Edition).

Style Caster reports there were 85 celebrity fragrances launched in 2012 alone. Beyoncé, said Sky, can charge more than £2-million (about R38-million) to create a perfume using her image and brand.

Stars have long been great ambassadors for fragrances. Chanel No 5’s classic status was associated with screen icon Marilyn Monroe, and in the 1950s Givenchy created a fragrance for Audrey Hepburn. Elizabeth Taylor’s perfume, White Diamonds, made £46-million in 2011, the year she died.