Theo James had a ‘learning curve’ with Hugo Boss

During Theo James’s world tour  promoting Hugo Boss The Scent he landed in Dubai and Aficionado caught up with him to hear more about the experience and get a sneak peek into his life. We find out what Theo keeps in his travel bag, the difference of him promoting a fragrance and promoting a film

How is promoting a fragrance different from being on tour to promote films or other projects?
I thought it might be harder because you don’t have a character to talk about, so it is a little bit more abstract and you don’t have a script or a story as such. But, in a funny way, I found it to be easier because you don’t have to do as much and you get to travel to places [that] you perhaps wouldn’t cover if you were doing film; I haven’t been to Dubai for a film, for example. The challenge is really talking about something in a very general way, because you don’t have a character. 

It’s the first time you’ve been the face of a fragrance. Tell us about the experience and how are you adapting to it. 

I think I’m getting more comfortable with it. It is the first time I have done anything like this and there was a learning curve. The partnership came out of the blue, in the sense that you get offered certain things… This one came along and it seemed like a clear one that I wanted to do. I’m quite old school and I feel that [the fragrance] also represented that. They wanted to do a new fragrance and I thought, with Jason Wu as well, it was a new territory, they wanted to do a something a little darker and a little different.

How do you choose which fragrance you are going to wear in the morning?

I only wear fragrance for specific occasions, so when I’m wearing a suit or if it’s like a work-related event, a wedding or something special. But I know that a particular fragrance becomes part of yourself; people remember you for it and you remember certain people from certain fragrances too.

What are some of the main items we can see in your travel bag? 

I travel pretty lightly, but I always need to have some books, a pair of trainers, watches – I am big on watches – a semi-casual jacket to quickly smarten up and, depending on the climate, a good, all-purpose, light coat.