"Our perfumes are a celebration of love in all its forms, whether it is the love between two people, the love for oneself or the love for life. Kleio perfumes are a way to express and embrace it. Each scent has been created to evoke a specific emotion and tell a story, making it the perfect way to communicate and celebrate love,” notes the website of Kleio Paris perfumes that were launched in the first quarter of 2023 by Dubai based Shirrin Sarkaree. Named after the Greek muse of history, Kleio (also spelt Clio), the five fragrances under the Kleio label, all unisex, are Paradise Lost, 1796, Sema, Poème Mystique and Silencio.
"My love for perfumes and my experience in handling and buying perfumes, plus the ambition, the knowledge and the knowhow of the perfume market helped me to create my perfume brand,” stated Sarkaree when responding to queries from Parsiana.
Fully involved in building up the brand from conception to marketing "took a good two years from the start when I decided on the bottle shape till its completion,” she revealed. The bottles are hand polished glass and look like baccarat crystal. These have a wooden cap with Kleio engraved on them. The juices (from aroma compounds like oud, woody, amber and other natural resources) are French from a reputed perfume company. All the perfumes are sealed and cello wrapped. "For the very first time in the perfume industry there are quotes from famous people behind each fragrance. These are selected on the basis of each scent.”
Erstwhile purchase manager of Dubai Duty Free, Sarkaree admits, "My forte was buying and negotiating. Now I am on the other side of creating a fragrance and I had to learn every single detail. It was a learning curve and though it was challenging at many levels it was well worth it. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I have partnered with Toni Abu Rashid, a Lebanese residing in Dubai, who has been in this business for 15 years and till date guides me.”
The Kleio perfumes are made and packed in France from where they are shipped to Dubai. Their stock of 7,000 pieces is kept in a temperature controlled warehouse in Dubai. "Our aim is to be in the most important and reputed duty free zones along with major airlines and niche distribution houses. Kleio Paris perfumes are competing with Chanel, Dior, Guerlain, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Tom Ford and other perfume brands,” notes Sarkaree. As she explained in an interview in the June 2023 issue of What’s On, the newsletter of the Karachi Zarthosti Banu Mandal, Kleio only makes eau de parfum "which means they have 25% of fragrance oils in them. They last longer than eau de toilette and eau de cologne. The 100 ml Kleio perfumes are priced between US $ 130 (Rs 10,733) and US $ 148 (Rs 12,219) per bottle. Their bestseller is the travel set of 10 ml of each of the five fragrances priced at US $ 66 (Rs 5,449).
Top: Shirin Sarkaree and her newly launched Kleio Paris perfumes (above)
Happy to now introduce herself as an entrepreneur along with others in the family who have their own business in Dubai, Shirrin’s husband Rumi runs JRS logistics and their daughter Nasha has her fitness company called FitwithNasha. Son Okhshan works for a high fashion brand in Vancouver, Canada. Active with the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce (WZCC), Rumi was their Middle East director for six years. Shirrin and Rumi were also involved in the hosting of the World Zoroastrian Congress in Dubai in 2009 and the Enterprise Dubai event five years later.
"I am all for entrepreneurship, though I worked for 50 years in three multinational companies,” said Shirrin who was born in Karachi and educated at the Mama Parsee Girls High School followed by the College of Home Economics, Karachi University.
Describing herself as "a great believer of Mushkil Asan Behram Yazad and Dastur Kookadaru,” Shirrin referred to her parents Hilla and Khurshed Pardiwalla ensuring that she did her kusti prayers twice a day and visited the agiary on birthdays and important calendar days. She considers herself "a citizen of the world which means I respect all religions.”