Penhaligon’s Celebrates 10 Years of Portraits at the Royal Academy of Arts

On 16 September 2026, Penhaligon’s brought its eccentric world of fragrance to the Royal Academy of Arts for The Who’s Who of London, an immersive exhibition celebrating ten years of the British fragrance house’s iconic Portraits Collection.

Rather than marking the anniversary with a conventional fragrance launch, Penhaligon’s transformed one of London’s most recognisable cultural institutions into a theatrical residence populated by the characters, stories and eccentricities that have defined Portraits since its debut.

At the centre of the celebration was the launch of The Manoeuvres of The Baroness, the fourteenth fragrance to join the Portraits Collection. Alongside the new character, Penhaligon’s introduced the Portraits Intense Collection, a darker and more daring interpretation of four of the collection’s most recognisable personalities.

The evening invited guests to step directly into the Portraits universe. The exhibition unfolded through immersive spaces including the Portraits Gallery and Dining Room, creating the feeling of entering an elaborate private residence rather than simply viewing a fragrance installation. It was a fitting setting for a collection built around character, storytelling and British eccentricity.

Guests were welcomed by a performance from a cellist from the London Philharmonic Orchestra, setting the tone for an evening that moved between fragrance, fashion, music and performance. Throughout the exhibition, bespoke headpieces created by renowned British milliner Stephen Jones added another layer of theatricality, referencing the distinctive personalities and visual codes of the Portraits characters.

The event also brought together figures from London’s beauty, fashion and cultural communities, including Stephen Jones and award-winning singer-songwriter Celeste, who closed the evening with a special live performance featuring music from her new project. DJs Emerald and Rae Sada provided the soundtrack throughout the celebrations, keeping the Royal Academy moving well into the evening.

The drinks offering continued the distinctly British atmosphere, with cocktails and refreshments from Gusbourne, Silent Pool Gin and Johnnie Walker accompanying guests as they explored the exhibition. What makes the Portraits Collection particularly enduring is its decision to treat fragrance as a form of character building. Each scent arrives with its own personality, family dynamics and narrative, turning perfume into something closer to a fictional world than a traditional beauty product. Ten years on, that approach still gives Penhaligon’s plenty of room to play.

The Who’s Who of London makes that storytelling physical. The exhibition does not simply look back at a decade of Portraits, but expands its universe through architecture, performance, millinery, music and scent. The result is an experience that feels deliberately excessive, playful and theatrical, much like the characters at its centre.

With The Manoeuvres of The Baroness joining the Portraits family and the new Portraits Intense fragrances pushing its characters into darker territory, Penhaligon’s enters its next chapter without abandoning the eccentricity that made the collection recognisable in the first place.

At the Royal Academy, ten years of Portraits became less an anniversary and more a full-scale invitation into its world.

RED•EYE WORLD