Leapfrog jumps over The Barefoot Doctor

Millie Kendal, one founder of make-up range Ruby & Millie, is launching a perfume and toiletry range with alternative “urban healer” and author Stephen Russell, aka The Barefoot Doctor.

The perfume, called Barefoot Doctor’s Chi/Qi, will launch in London’s Harvey Nichols in August alongside a few related bodycare products. The full range will roll out to 280 Boots stores nationwide from September.

The bottle and packaging are designed by manufacturing and design consultancy, Leapfrog, with significant creative input from Russell – who has created the name and graphic identity for the range – and Kendal.

Aimed at both men and women, the perfume will be available in two scents: an original “Chi/Qi Private Mix”, created from Russell’s personal formula, and a similar perfume infused with jasmine. The range has three purposes, says Kendal: to heal, energise and make you “damn sexy”.

“The Barefoot Doctor brand is designed to reflect the Barefoot Doctor’s knowledge of alternative health,” she adds. “But it is also saying ‘it’s okay to be sexy’.”

A haircare range based on the perfume is due to launch in December, with a men’s line set to follow in the Spring.