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From Co Tipperary, John worked at Kenzo and LVMH, Lancôme and L’Oréal Luxe. In 2007, he founded Memo Paris with his wife Clara, a luxury fragrance house inspired by travel now sold in 40 countries …
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PARENTS? A blessing. Courageous. My dad was sent off to boarding school in Glenstal Abbey in Co Limerick at seven years of age and then to New Zealand at 17. His mother gave him a one-way ticket and said, “You’re going to inherit the farm and you know nothing about farming”. He stayed in New Zealand for seven years, then studied veterinary science in UCD for a year before he was called back to take over the farm.
My mum was born and reared in Kenya. Her father was English, a judge, and she was a bit of a rebel. Her mother was brought up in an Anglo-Irish background in Gurteen Castle on the Suir in Co Waterford; my great-uncle was Edmond de la Poer. Mum left Kenya at 17 and moved to Cambridge in the UK tobecome a nurse. At 40 years of age, she set up Crossogue Preserves on the family farm. So, I had very different influences from both sides. My dad’s side were landowners and very Irish, while the other side was, “How’s your rugger, John?”
HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR PARENTS’ INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE? I was the fourth of six kids and it was a very busy house. On the farm, if you were bored you’d get a job to do. I was very lucky to be given a lot of freedom by my parents.
DID YOUR SCHOOL MAKE A BIG IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE? I had a fabulous time at the local national school in Co Tipperary and then, at twelve, I went to Glenstal. It was tradition. My brother, father and uncles had all gone. Boarding school is not for everyone, but I cherished those years and I met friends for life there.
WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU’D GROW UP TO BE? I wanted to be a farmer or a vet because that was all around me. As I got older, and because my grandfather was a judge, I thought, law. Then I realised that wasn’t much fun, so I looked up the food chain and thought I’d become a banker. I did a BComm in UCD, thinking that would give me the time to decide what to do.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST BIG BREAK? When I was 18, I started working at Brown Thomas, which had the O’Callaghan’s riding department at the time. In my last year in college, we had to set up a company, so I went to the English company who ran the concession and they said, “Why don’t you set up O’Callaghan’s as an international brand?” We sold Irish sweaters, boots and waxed cotton jackets made in England. When I left college, I spent five years travelling around the world with the brand. Then I did an MBA in Paris, and went into fashion at Kenzo and LVMH.
“Maybe it’s from growing up on a farm, or my hyperactivity, but wherever I am I always need to have something to do.”
WHAT BROUGHT YOU INTO THE WORLD OF FRAGRANCE? After five years as GM with Kenzo and LVMH, I wanted to completely change direction. I got a call from L’Oréal, who were trying to bring in people from the fashion industry. It was 2005 and we were just married. At the time, Clara had an art magazine and a publishing company. She had made a book about the 22 greatest perfumers in the world and saw that fragrance was an amazing, kind of hidden, world. We decided to take a chance, so we started the business in 2007 while I was working for L’Oréal in Geneva. After five years, we had built up Memo to the point that I had the courage to leave.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE IMPORTANT FEMALE RELATIONSHIPS IN YOUR LIFE? The first one would be my mum, who has always been a rock. My parents hired a nanny from New Zealand just before I was born. Coralie stayed for twelve years and left when I went to boarding school, but I have kept in touch and have been to see her in New Zealand. Then there’s Clara. We work together, have kids together, we do a lot of things together, but she still amazes me. And of course my daughter Belen, who’s 14; there’s no filter with her. She will tell me what I’m doing right, what I’m doing wrong, and it can get very close to the bone.
YOU LIVE IN SWITZERLAND, YOUR WIFE IS CATALAN, MEMO HAS ITS BOUTIQUE IN PARIS AND YOU’RE FROM TIPPERARY – WHERE IS HOME NOW? For the first 40 years of my life, I always said home was Ireland. Over the last ten years, I’ve come to realise that home is Switzerland.
“For so long, when I was going back to Ireland I’d say, “I’m going back to my family”, meaning my parents. It took a long time for me to realise that this is my family and home is Geneva.”
YOUR STYLE SIGNIFIER IS: Doing my own thing and saying no to what everyone else is wearing. I was always quirky and different.
YOU BUY YOUR CLOTHES WHEN: I see something special. Having worked in fashion from the age of 18, the last thing I need is more clothes, but in the back of my mind, I always have a budget for when I see a unique piece.
YOUR FAVOURITE SHOES ARE: Boots. I recently got a pair from a Canadian brand called Vibers. They used to make boots for the Canadian Army and they’ve been made by the same family for four generations, so I wanted to support them. They also look good!
DO YOU USE SKINCARE PRODUCTS? I steal my wife’s. She uses Biologique Recherche, and my daughter has introduced her to Korean skincare, so I’m stealing a mix of those too.
WHAT DO YOU DO FOR EXERCISE? I love doing sport with other people. Maybe it comes from playing rugby. When I moved to Switzerland, my passion became the mountains and climbing, so then I started organising expeditions. I have a biking club and a climbing group, and we try to do an expedition to a mountain once a year.
YOU MOST RECENTLY READ: The Vegetarian by Han Kang, which blew my mind. Also The Girl by Edna O’Brien, which is a horrific story. Clara will leave a book if she doesn’t like it, but I have this Catholic guilt thing where I have to finish it.
YOU MOST RECENTLY LISTENED TO: My son, Bartholome. He studies music and wants to be a pop star. When I’m travelling on a plane, I listen to his album.
CAN YOU SPEAK A FOREIGN LANGUAGE? I speak German and French. It’s embarrassing because I have a Spanish wife and my kids speak fluent Spanish, but I’m on Duolingo for Spanish. I think it’s because the first time I spoke Spanish my wife laughed at me, so I have this mental block.
WHAT DO YOU COOK AT HOME? I can cook, but I do it rarely because Clara loves cooking, though she’s desperate at tidying up. So Clara cooks and then I have this huge mess to clean up. When I used to work in restaurants, they called that guy the plunger. I’m the plunger.
YOUR PERFECT WEEKEND INCLUDES: Something that’s very tiring, like getting to the top of a mountain, doing a climb, takng a hike, starting and finishing something. The idea of going on holiday and doing nothing is absurd to me.
Interview by Sarah Caden.
English (United States) ·