Jo Malone founded one of Britain's most famous fragrance brands in the 1990s. The Jo Malone fragrance range is renowned for the pairing of unusual ingredients and essences to create unique scents, and the Malone name soon became synonymous with luxury and indulgence.
As a child at home in Bexleyheath, Jo would make her own perfumes with flowers from the garden and grated up bathroom soap.
She worked as a florist, giving facials in her kitchen in the evenings and when she met her husband, at the age of 19, the business began to really take off. Her handmade scents and skin care products were in hot demand. She gave her Nutmeg and Ginger Bath Oil as a thank you to her clients and the orders began to flood in. The Jo Malone brand signature cream packaging with black edging remains iconic today.
Jo Malone opened her first store at 154 Walton Street in London in 1994, and by 1999 had launched her flagship store in London's Sloane Street.
In 1999, her company was purchased by Estée Lauder but keeping Jo still at the helm in the UK as chairwoman and creative director. Then in 2006, she sold the business entirely to Estée Lauder as she felt she had many other dreams and passions that she wanted to fulfill.
In 2008, Jo was honoured with an MBE for her services to the beauty industry.
Then In 2010, Jo turned her talents to television presenting making her debut on BBC One. The four part series 'High Street Dreams' conceptualised by Jo herself, saw her back in the tough world of retail using her business experience and entrepreneurial spirit to help small businesses realise their dreams of trading on the great British high street. The show successfully helped to create six new British Brands.
By 2011 she had created her new fragrance company 'Jo Loves' which, with its bold red and black branding, was officially launched in November 2011.