Perfumer Hawsoon Jobe describes the smell of the Swedish suburbs
Stockholm is covered in snow, making for a magical December setting. Inside Vete-Katten, a long-established café and bakery, Hawsoon Jobe sits waiting. The air is thick with the aroma of cardamom, burned sugar and cinnamon. But also Egyptian musk, amber, bergamot, cedar and suede – or Marseille, the latest signature scent by the perfumer’s brainchild Port Au Mansa.
“I created this scent a year ago. It is my latest perfume with a base of jojoba oil and a character reminiscent of that of the sun-kissed city of Marseille. A place where life is lived to the fullest. Where people come dressed in their finest sportswear – Nikes and football jerseys – as they lounge on porches smoking hookahs and listening to local rapper JUL.”
The brand is a delicious combination of delectable perfume oils, strong visuals and a solid backbone built on Swedish suburb heritage. The perfume house, established in 2020, still operates from Jobe’s home in Skarpnäck, a borough in the southern part of Stockholm. With a recent surge in social media fame, Port Au Mansa is certainly worth a follow.
Weekly: Sweden has a solid track record in the boutique fragrance business with big players such as Byredo, Stora Skuggan and 19-69, for example, but there seems to be something raw about Port Au Mansa?
Hawsoon Jobe: ”Perfumes have always been important to me. My father was really into scents. I remember him wearing Z14, a perfume by Halston, a leather fragrance for men with top notes of cypress, lemon, bergamot and basil. I then remember being around fifteen years old, when a friend gave me a bottle of perfume oil. A little package that I was able to take with me everywhere. A sweet vanilla scent that I could apply wherever, even in the metro. I remember smelling like vanilla – a sweet little bakery delight.
But I have always wanted to stick out from the crowd. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be different, do things my own way. With fragrance, I have just been doing my thing – which I believe in. While many take on mentors, travel to Calabria or Grasse, and keep studying perfume, I just did it all on my own.”
W: Nowadays, smelling of tangy treats might feel quite acceptable, but back in the day, things were probably a bit different?
HJ: “In 2009, men were supposed to smell sporty – you know, strong and fresh. A traditionally masculine scent was something along the lines, or notes, of Calvin Klein’s CK One or Ralph Lauren’s Polo Blue. It was all about an Abercrombie and Fitch aesthetic, college-like and athletic. But I got a lot of compliments for my sugary scent! I was also athletic to begin with. I started playing basketball for Söder Basket in lower secondary school and continued with local teams well into highschool. After that I decided to start chasing my dreams. I got a friend to come to my games and film me play. Then my cousin’s stepfather edited the clips into what could be seen as a self-tape. I sent that to New York – and got accepted. Eventually I transferred to San Francisco in hopes of better, warmer weather, but I think that the drive I had with trying to get out of Sweden led me to where I am today. Many are afraid to fail, but I enjoy getting out of my comfort zone.“
W: From Stockholm to New York and San Fran – how did that work out?
HJ: “It went well but I always had a sense of there being bigger things for me, other than those I was pursuing at the time. So one morning I woke up and just knew. I went straight to my coach and told him I was quitting. He got mad of course but I instinctively knew there was something bigger in the cards for me. I was twenty at the time so even though I believed in my purpose, an identity crisis ensued. The change made me work on myself and do some self discovery. Luckily I had an English teacher at the time, Robert Reece, who told me that as a black man, I was expected to do the bare minimum. He told me I had loads of potential, but that for me, there would be things that were made available. Things like basketball or rap music – but I was interested in fashion, perfume and photography. Robert started giving me books to read: Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass. I went to a seminar by Angela Davis and slowly started understanding that it is crucial to know who one is and where one comes from. I was hungry to expand my mind. Robert taught me to not let society define me and that anything is possible. We are all able to reach our dreams.
I then moved to London to study marketing. Now London, at the time, was booming. There was a massive movement going on with local talent like Skepta turning the international focus from America towards Europe and England. Suddenly having a European identity became interesting. So I finished my Bachelor’s and started taking on internships, putting more flesh on bones. And in 2019, I moved back to Sweden.“
W: Is that when perfume really took off for you?
HJ: “Well yes and no. I started working for Le Labo Fragrances, owned by Estée Lauder, but then the pandemic hit, I got laid off and suddenly had nothing going on for me. Now I can see that the circumstances made for perfect timing – it was a case of now or never. So I had a graphic designer friend design a logo for my business, a little butterfly. It stands for personal growth and signifies the individual stories behind the scents. I wrote whole stories for each of the eight perfumes I created. And you know, I only meant to launch two or three! But this is how I am as a person, I go full throttle. In 2020, I had a soft launch for the series at my sister’s place. I actually told her some 20–30 people might show up, but in the end over 60 people came and I sold most of my stock immediately. After that I thought, fuck it, nu kör vi and launched an Instagram page. Since then I have collaborated with the British Embassy at Fotografiska, the Mood Gallery in Stockholm and have had several pop-ups. My perfumes were at Art Basel Miami and featured in VOGUE Scandinavia in July 2022.“
“But coming back to your question on rawness: I never wish to represent anything but myself and where I come from. Port Au Mansa has a strong, authentic voice because this is all I know. I am not sure, looking the way I do, I would have been able to create such a brand working from within a large organization. I am quite certain that people would have shied away. Coming from Skarpnäck, I am able to just do my thing – and represent.“
W: I recently saw Kim Kardashian educating Harvard alumni about the importance of not inclusivity, but inclusion and representation as a value that needs to be ingrained within a brand.
HJ: “Exactly, I am not adding a level of diversity onto my business, but myself. I think we need to stay critical about advertising. There is a need to constantly ask: who is portrayed in the shop window? Who are we putting on design moodboards? And finally, where does the money flow? Who is at the top of the power chain?“
“I am not adding a level of diversity onto my business, but myself. I think we need to stay critical about advertising. There is a need to constantly ask: who is portrayed in the shop window? Who are we putting on design moodboards? And finally, where does the money flow? Who is at the top of the power chain?“
Hawsoon Jobe
“With Port Au Mansa, I am able to showcase my reality, and that is nice. I take great pride in my Gambian roots, my youth in the suburbs – and am not afraid to show it. My first photoshoot for the brand involved local kids. They came on their scooters, wearing balaclavas and carrying bottles of lean, a mix of codeine and soft drink. It was all very absurd in a way, but I just told them to be as they are. They are not bad kids, I also looked like that because it is a dress code for the area we come from. But there is always more to all of us. I mean looking at me, perfumer certainly isn’t the first thing that comes to mind? Tracksuit and black hoodies – but the kids need representation too.“
“I am not interested in showing a world that belongs to them but inviting them into mine. I allow these kids to bring with them a seed of growth. This to me is crucial. Not trying to pass and blend in but bring something new into the largely elitist world of perfume.
Don’t get me wrong though, perfume comes first – the product is amazing.
But I am not willing to let go of origin. In the beginning of Port Au Mansa, a young guy used to come to me all the time. He had wads of money and was buying so many perfumes. He kept telling me to jack up my prices and believe in myself. This young guy gave me so much encouragement and I am not sure, if he hadn’t been there in the beginning, whether I would have made it.
He died last year, this young boy. So now more than ever, I am here to pay my respects. It is the smallest encouragements that can keep you going.“