Aromascope

Interview With Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian

July 30th, 2007

A little while back I did a post on one of my favorite perfumers, Francis Kurkdjian. Ever since then, I’ve been on pins and needles about doing an interview with him, and I can’t even tell you how excited I am to share it with you today. Thank you to Monsieur Kurkdjian for taking the time to share a bit of his brilliant mind (and nose) with us, perfume fanatics!

1. Was there a specific moment when you knew you wanted to be a perfumer, and what/when was it?
I wanted to follow the path of both my grandparents in fashion and couture but I don’t know how to draw. At the age of 16 I therefore decided to become a perfumer because, in its spirit, perfume is to me the closest métier to fashion.

2. What profession would you have gone into had you taken an alternate route in life?
Architect? Restorer? Archaeologist? Ballet dancer? Who knows! But no one knows what the future is made of.

3. Your fragrances seem to have a definite association with a particular color palette. Are you inspired by particular visual images or even specific palettes?
I am not sure I agree with what you said. When you look through my work from Le Male in 1995 until the new Ungaro fragrance for women or “For Him” by Narciso Rodriguez that will launch this fall, I am not sure one can say they are inspired or driven by one specific palette.

4. If you could have a dinner party with guests from any period in history, who would you invite?
If I was hosting a dinner party I would invite: singer Maria Callas, painter Pablo Picasso, dancer Anna Pavlova, scientist Isaac Newton, philosopher Blaise Pascal, and spy-courtisane Mata Hari!

5. Do you have a mentor? The works of which perfumers do you admire and why?
During my training (3 months) at Quest International (now Givaudan) I have taught perfumery with Olivier Cresp and during my first year I have worked under the guidance of Christopher Sheldrake (now at Chanel), Maurice Roucel (now at Symrise), Noel Guillot, and Gilles Romey. Then during my career at Quest I had the pleasures to work with Françoise Caron, Calice Becker, and Christine Nagel. I like the work of Annick Ménardo and Dominque Ropion today.

6. What are your favorite perfumes?
Must by Cartier, No 5 by Chanel, Eau d’Orange Verte by Hermès, and Eau de Rochas.

7. You have your own atelier of perfumes. What are the typical or unusual fragrance requests?
French artist Sophie Calle asked me to create the smell of money a few years ago. I have also created perfumes for baby shower parties, weddings, etc.

8. What other things are you passionate about in life, and how do they affect your perfume creations?
I play the piano. Enjoy ballet and music concerts. Art exhibitions. But what I enjoy the most is spending time with my friends.

9. You seem to have a way with rose (Indult Isvaraya, Parfums MDCI creations, Lady Vengeance, Rose Barbare). In my perception, your rose based scents are full-bodied, voluptuous, sort of femme fatale. Is that your favorite note to work with?
Rose is not my favourite note to work with. It happens I used it many times over the past two years because it was the right note to use to depict and create the emotions I wanted to reproduce from the projects I was given to work on.

10. What perfume notes in your opinion are not used enough these days and why?
Leather notes are not very commercial so they are not used very often. Bel Ami by Hermès is a one of my favourite perfumes as well.

11. You work on so many versatile projects like the Paris Opera perfume, Sillage de la Reine, Papier d’Armenie… what other interesting projects would you like to take on?
I have worked again for the Castle of Versailles and the show goes during all the month of August (to visit the online page, click here). I have many projects going on for next fall and I will keep you posted…

12. What would you recommend any perfume aficionado that they should do at least once in their lifetime?
Maybe going to Iran to see the rose harvest when the sun rises….

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