Tall shelving filled with glass jars of uneven sizes, formidable chests segmented into drawers of increasingly diminishing sizes – the wonders of apothecaries captivated Brendan Murdock from an early age. In 2018, he translated this long-standing fascination into anatomē, an holistic brand which harnesses botanicals and essential oils to support emotional and physical wellbeing. Now you can discover this world of wellbeing at the brand's shop on London's Chiltern Street.
Learn a little more about our latest addition to the Walpole family in our interview with the founder of anatomē, Brendan Murdock...
Walpole: Tell us about the history of your brand…
Brendan Murdock: More than a wellness brand, anatomē is a modern London apothecary. We are building a community of individuals in control of their health and happiness. I am personally passionate about ingredients and scent, assembling with my team the tools to support wellbeing in this modern age.
So, I guess we bring balance to modern lifestyles. Our expertly blended botanical ingredients are chosen for their positive effects on sleep, diet, skincare, and overall health so that you feel better from within.
We create formulations that include sensory point oils, candles, health supplements and skincare. We also work with select partners globally, connecting with our community where they choose to spend their time – not just in retail stores. Partners we work with include leading retail and lifestyle brands, luxury hotels and gyms, which present our collections, while creating events and workshops.
What is your brand best known for?
Our signature luxury sleep oils have been a foundation of the brand; we have reformulated and refined them into a new collection that we launched this autumn. These sleep collections include sensory point sleep oils, candles, pillow sprays, and health supplements.
Each sleep formulation derives from a unique sleeping challenge or a key ingredient. We have created three collections that address different sleep challenges: overactive, restless and stressed.
What has been a significant achievement in your company’s timeline?
We have created some extraordinary aromachology oils – I think they are the best the world has to offer. We focus on scent structure, hence our move into wellness parfums in 2024. Now being able to present the sleep collections globally from the bedside at Claridge's to our retailers from Hong Kong to Paris has been a great achievement.
Why do you love the brand?
I'm passionate about apothecaries, ingredients, and finding modern ways to tell stories. I think we are creating some amazing scents that can really sensitise the brain to our circadian rhythms – whether it be time to go to sleep or, conversely, to energise and to awaken.
Why does your brand represent the very best in British luxury?
We hope for our global community to carry anatomē not only as a set of products but as a philosophy - our travel set in your bag, a practice to support sleep or mindfulness. Our customers take as much pride in their practices, routines and products as they do in their style choices. We want wellbeing to be the ultimate trophy - far more meaningful than a handbag or a watch.
What attracted you to becoming a Walpole member?
I was part of Walpole's Brands of Tomorrow programme and we really enjoyed and benefited from that support, conversation and progression as a brand, I look forward to meeting and sharing with the wider Walpole membership and leveraging our participation to raise brand awareness and lean on Walpole for support as we grow.
If you could collaborate with another Walpole member, which one would you choose (and what would you like to do?
We have possible partnerships bubbling with several Walpole members. Whether it's our sleep and skincare collections in some wonderful hotels, or our new parfums supporting a wonderful summer cocktail, I'm open to collaborations. We know we can support Walpole's wider membership and, equally, many other like-minded members can helping us to thrive, too.
Tell us about an exciting development or new launch for your brand in the coming months?
We just launched our beautiful new sleep collections which are stunning: the sensory point oils, pillow sprays and bath oils are really exquisite. I'm also excited about the new anatomē book, which Kyle books is publishing in the spring, as well as the launch of our new wellness parfum collection.
