April 4, 2025 |
Noses, perfumers, purveyors of unseen trails, call them what you will. They were once hidden, the silent magicians behind the olfactory concoctions that stirred our senses and imaginations. But increasingly, they have stepped into the limelight to become the rock stars of the beauty world, playing their air guitars to create invisible notes that have the ability to shake, transport, reveal and disguise us. We profile five of the best in the business who have fashioned molecules to create famed fragrances for the biggest luxury brands in the world.
Olivier Polge for Chanel
Polge was made in-house perfumer of Chanel in 2015, stepping into the shoes of his legendary father, Jacques, who retired after holding the post for 37 years. His creations have included Bleu de Chanel Parfum, a modern take on the Bleu created by his dad, as well as No.5 L’Eau and the Les Exclusifs numbers Misia, Boy and, most recently, Comète.
How would you describe the fragrance DNA of the house? Chanel’s perfume DNA is not easy to describe because it is not linked to a specific combination of raw materials, although we are fond of flowers, especially jasmine. Chanel’s style is a state of mind, a vision that Gabrielle Chanel described as the scent of a woman. A Chanel perfume never tries to reproduce nature and is composed of many scents, in the same way a fashion designer constructs a dress.
Which fragrance that you’ve created for the house are you most proud of? Creation is an endless work… I like to think the perfumes that I create express something for the brand.
How do the visuals, the ad campaign and the packaging all come together with the fragrance? How much of that informs your brief and/or how involved are you in that whole package? All the elements that contribute to the perfumes, from the scent to the bottle, or the images, are created in parallel in the house. We are cautious during the whole process and make sure we stay tuned.
What is your process when creating a fragrance? How much time to do you spend in the house archives looking for inspiration and what else do you look to for inspiration? I personally think that a creative mindset can be inspired by everything that surrounds it.
What makes a fragrance sell? I think a fragrance sells if it brings emotions to people.
What do you love about fragrance? I love that fragrances are very intuitive and speak to one’s inner self.
Why and how did you become a nose? Aged 20, I did an internship in my father’s laboratory and discovered how important scents really were for me, as well as the craftsmanship that existed behind it all.
What are your favourite smells? Among the many different smells that I like, what come to mind are certain scents from my childhood from the south of France, mostly coming from aromatic plants, like thyme, cistus and lavender.
What is the biggest challenge to creating a new fragrance? In a crowded marketplace, how do you grab and hold attention? You always keep in mind that you have to keep building on the singularity of your brand and play with your identity.
How has the fragrance business changed over the course of your career? Creation is on my mind, the business aspects less so.
How do you think the future of fragrance might look different? My interest is in the signature and the aesthetic of scents, and this is always something that has been evolving. As Gabrielle Chanel once said, “Fashion becomes unfashionable. Style never.”
Chanel’s master perfumer, Olivier Polge; photography courtesy of Chanel
Chance Eau Splendide by CHANEL; photography courtesy of Chanel
Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud for Les Parfums Louis Vuitton
Born into a long line of French perfumers, Cavallier-Belletrud is known for being a visionary creative. In 2012 the master perfumer became the in-house nose and exclusive creator of Louis Vuitton fragrances, all of which are offered in refillable bottles. His office and laboratory are based at Les Fontaines Parfumées, a creative atelier in Grasse famed for being the French cradle of perfumery. His latest launch for the maison is LVers.
How would you describe the fragrance DNA of the house? The DNA of Les Parfums Louis Vuitton is using natural ingredients, creating unforgettable accords with exceptional materials.
Which fragrance that you’ve created for the house are you most proud of? I’m proud of every one but I’m specifically proud today, after having joined Louis Vuitton 13 years ago, to have participated in this adventure [with LVers]. I think we have achieved something like a breakthrough in the perfume industry – we don’t use any consumer tests, it’s pure creation. We are not under the law of a so-called market, we are under the law of the pleasure of fragrance, and that’s a breakthrough in this business.
What is your process when creating a fragrance? How much time to do you spend in the house archives looking for inspiration and what else do you look to for inspiration? Inspiration comes first from the brand. It’s so rich in terms of evoking luxury and craftsmanship, and it has so many stories from 170 years. Louis Vuitton is, I think, the only brand that is so accepted and well known that it brings [together] cultures [from] all over the world. Our collaborations with [Takashi] Murakami or many other artists make us the witness to those cultures. I love the idea that by using exceptional natural raw materials from China, Guatemala, Europe and the US that those materials participate in the life of the people there, in cooking, in decorating, etc. I think it’s our mission to reveal the beauty of all those cultures, but I keep in mind that we are also an ambassador for French culture.
What makes a fragrance sell? Perfume is like people. It’s like love. It’s a concentrate of emotions and you cannot be popular if you are too balanced, or too extreme. Harmony and balance is what we are seeking, but it’s always difficult. We put a lot of emotions into everything we’re doing at Louis Vuitton, especially perfumes, because they’re abstract; you can’t see it, you can just feel it.
What do you love about fragrance? Everything. After going to lunch every day, I spray a perfume I’m working on or a Louis Vuitton perfume. I’ve loved perfume since I was born and could speak perfume since I started to speak. Fragrance is part of elegance and sophistication.
How did you become a nose? My father and grandfather were perfumers. It’s a family tradition. Now I have my daughter, Camille, working with me, and she’s a perfumer. I had so much admiration for my father when I was a child. It was a kind of mystery. My advantage has been to be trained since I was a baby in terms of how to approach and describe a scent, and then to discover the beauty of natural ingredients and study molecules and the history of perfumery, then finally, practising the art of creating a perfume. But I’ve discovered there’s no gift in life. There’s only passion and work, work, work and work.
What are your favourite smells? I love the smell of croissant in the morning. It’s so French. And I love the scent which surrounds me in Cabris, my small village just near Grasse, looking at the sea and smelling grass. The earth after rain is fantastic, when nature distils something fantastic and the wind carries it.
What is the biggest challenge to creating a new fragrance? In a crowded marketplace, how do you grab and hold attention? The challenge is to be unique in a place where you have 2,000 launches per year. But it’s like cooking. You cannot be a chef who wins three Michelin stars [for your restaurant] without having exceptional ingredients. It’s like fashion, where you have many cuts but there is one style delivered by Nicolas Ghesquière, and it’s very important to work on that signature. It’s like choosing a man or woman to live with: you need to experiment before – it’s better, otherwise you can be disappointed. Perfume is not a commodity, it’s a deep, secret part of your personality and it has to please you first.
How has the fragrance business changed during your career? Today we are facing very demanding clients, as in all luxury businesses: they want excellence and personal experiences. Young people especially are coming not only for the brand, but the experience we offer. We are entering the era of transparency and delivering full emotional feelings on perfumes and the concept of the brand.
How do you think the future of fragrance might look different? It will be more and more luxury. At Louis Vuitton, we’ve been practising made-to-order for four years and it has been very successful. We create a personal perfume for lovely clients. It’s a true experience we’re offering the world and we have the capacity to do it.
Louis Vuitton’s Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud comes from a family of perfumers; photography courtesy of Louis Vuitton
LVERS Eau de Parfum by LOUIS VUITTON; photography courtesy of Louis Vuitton
Marie Salamagne for Gucci Flora
In her work for Gucci, French nose Marie Salamagne – whose career started with chemistry and dancing – has created two fragrances for the celebrated Gucci Flora range. First was Gorgeous Magnolia and her latest is Gorgeous Orchid, which you can buy at Selfridges.
Which fragrance that you’ve created for the house are you most proud of? I have to say that I am extremely proud of Gorgeous Orchid. It’s very special for me because the idea we had was to reinvent vanilla, and that’s not easy, as it’s a very traditional raw material. But I managed to do it using the duo of a traditional vanilla accord and an ozone accord. I ended up creating a bold, audacious fragrance that’s modern, extremely feminine and never been done before. It’s very special, very refined.
How do the visuals, ad campaign and packaging all come together with the fragrance? How much of that informs your brief and/or how involved are you in that whole package? I knew pretty early that Miley Cyrus would be the face of Gorgeous Orchid and she has such great character. And I knew it was for the Flora family, it’s the universal floralcy. So you have that in mind.
What is your process when creating a fragrance? I love having a vision and being guided. And what guides me is the brand for sure. It can be a picture, a share with the team. It can be a raw material that we could start from. It could be anything, but I need a little frame, because having nothing for me [causes] a bit of anxiety. I’d rather have things to follow. And then I really follow my intuition. When the team talks to me about a new fragrance I’m super-spontaneous.
What makes a fragrance sell? I can’t put a finger on it, because it’s a part of magic. We would love to know. We would love to be able to predict. But we’re not able to. Sometimes we’re convinced that it’s going be a great seller and it doesn’t happen. And sometimes it a super-big wow and you can’t always analyse why.
What do you love about fragrance? That’s a big question, but I fell in love with smell before fragrance because I realised how powerful this sense was, how it could remind me of things I’d done years ago. Even when I was a little girl I was totally amazed by smelling the fragrance of one of my teachers when I was eight. I really fell in love with common smells, like my garden or a fireplace. I didn’t know I was going to become a perfumer because, originally, I didn’t know the job [existed]. I love being able to come to work every day not knowing what will happen. [It’s about] searching, being passionate and working hard, because it’s hard work and takes a lot of time. I don’t think many jobs can offer that.
What are your favourite smells? I love patchouli. I am addicted.
How did you become a nose? I studied chemistry and got really bored. I didn’t know what I was going to do. At the time, I was dancing a lot, painting and expressing myself in other ways. [Then] I heard about a school that trained noses and I knew that was it.
What is the biggest challenge to creating a new fragrance? In a crowded marketplace, how do you grab and hold attention? For me, it’s being bold, audacious, having a strong character signature and [it] still being addictive. It’s the combination. And of course, then you have all the technical parts, like diffusion, but that comes later. First, it’s what story you want to tell and [how you] combine it with addiction and pleasure. In my fragrances, I’m always telling a story.
How has the fragrance business changed over your career? I’ve been working in the industry for about 20 years and it has changed a lot. So many brands have appeared. And the niche market inspires the bigger brands a lot now. I like the idea that people are more trained thanks to social media. Younger people, even teenagers, are much more sensitive to fragrances and are not scared to try.
How do you think the future of fragrance might look different? How we formulate is becoming very different because of sustainability and the future is definitely about this, which is great. We’re also always searching for new technology, though it’s very hard to find new ones. But we have a new [form of molecular] technology, what we call Firmenich Firgood. It allows us to capture natural aromas without any heat or solvent. It’s very interesting technology and we also try to use vegetables and strawberry, which is super-hard to do, so it’s a kind of a revolution for us.
Marie Salamagne created Gorgeous Magnolia and the new Gorgeous Orchid for the Gucci Flora range; photography courtesy of Gucci
Flora Gorgeous Orchid Eau de Parfum by GUCCI Beauty; photography courtesy of Gucci
Christian Astuguevieille for Comme des Garçons
As creative director for Comme des Garçons Parfums, a collaboration between him and Rei Kawakubo that they founded in 1993, Astuguevieille oversees all the fragrances of the house. The first, Eau de Parfum, launched a year later and the brand has established a reputation for creating the unexpected and defying convention.
How would you describe the fragrance DNA of the house? The freedom to use both beautiful material and the emergence of synthetic notes.
Which fragrance that you’ve created for the house are you most proud of? Odeur 53 and Odeur 71 for their difference and innovation.
How do the visuals, ad campaign and packaging all come together with the fragrance? How much of that informs your brief and/or how involved are you in that whole package? My involvement is primarily olfactory. As for the bottle and packaging, it’s a collective effort led by Rei Kawakubo.
What is your process when creating a fragrance? How much time to do you spend in the house archives looking for inspiration and what else do you look to for inspiration? The creation process begins with seeking a brief in harmony with Rei and collaborating with various perfumers to maintain consistency in the olfactory writing.
What makes a fragrance sell? A new fragrance sells for various reasons. The scent is very different from other perfumes on the market and aligns with the Comme des Garçons brand. I think it’s important to have consistency within the brand, giving a clear perception to build loyalty among the clients concerned.
What do you love about fragrance? The vastness of creation, with beautiful raw materials and the innovative research from various laboratories, opens up a realm of possibilities for us.
Why and how did you become a nose? I am not a ‘nose’; I am a creative director. My olfactory discovery began with a collaboration with the historic house of Molinard in 1975.
What are your favourite smells? My favourite scents are:
• Vetiver
• Tar
• Wind-dried linen
• Fresh green leaves
• Tuberose
• And all kinds of fragrant woods.
What is the biggest challenge to creating a new fragrance? In a crowded marketplace, how do you grab and hold attention? Stay true to the brand and keep moving forward.
How has the business changed over the course of your career? The fragrance industry has developed significantly, providing consumers with a greater choice. The most important thing is to remain faithful to a brand’s olfactory signature without worrying about the competition, with the guiding principles of freedom, creation and coherence.
Christian Astuguevieille has been creative director of Comme des Garçons Parfums since founding it with Rai Kawakubo in 1993; photography courtesy of Comme des Garçons
from left: Odeur 53, Comme des Garçons Eau de Parfum and Comme des Garçons 5 by COMME DES GARCONS; photography by Carolyn Drake
Christine Nagel for Hermès
Swiss-born Nagel, who has been described as a painter of fragrances, joined Hermès as its exclusive perfume creator in March 2014. Her creations for the house include Twilly d’Hermès and the latest launch, Barénia, which is housed in a bottle inspired by the maison’s well-known Collier de Chien bracelet.
How would you describe the fragrance DNA of the house? There’s a house signature for fragrances, of course, but there is also an Hermès signature common to all its métiers. The Hermès style is imbued with subtle elegance, refinement and real presence.
Which fragrance that you’ve created for the house are you most proud of? That’s like asking me if I have a favourite child! Each reflects a moment at Hermès, encounters that have shaped my career. All remain important. But if I had to choose just one? Barénia. I wanted to sculpt a vision of the feminine that was distinctive, rooted in the house’s heritage and culture.
How do the visuals, ad campaign and packaging all come together? How involved are you in that whole package? At Hermès artists have enormous freedom. This approach gives the creative team and designer an essential role: they set the tone. I’ve never been given a brief, we have no market research and no focus groups. For Barénia, we spoke at length with [in-house designer] Philippe Mouquet about the identity of the fragrance, about femininity and about the idea of a companion object designed for the woman who wears it. He quickly settled on the Collier de Chien bracelet, which has never dated. He saw what he could do with it, filling in the elliptical cylinder to become Barénia’s bottle.
What is your process when creating a fragrance? How much time to do you spend in the archives looking for inspiration and where else do you look? Hermès is rich in history and creativity. It has an abundance of worlds and I see inspiration daily. The house likes to say there is no amnesia in design, no creation without memory, which is true. I’m inspired and nourished by the house, which offers a bottomless well of inspiring stories.
What makes a fragrance sell? It’s hard to say… If only I had the recipe for success, I’d take advantage of it! It’s up to us to innovate, disrupt and solicit emotion.
What do you love about fragrance? Everything! Scent is my life and my expertise; it is my chosen profession and continues to fascinate me. I have the most wonderful job in the world. I savour each day and each launch.
Why and how did you become a nose? It came through my studies in organic chemistry and my first job at [Swiss fragrance company] Firmenich. I looked out of my office window one day and saw [Spanish perfumer] Alberto Morillas. He was asking two young women to smell his trial fragrances: I saw their smiles, felt their emotions. I knew I couldn’t rest until I had become a perfumer, constantly learning and perfecting my knowledge.
What are your favourite smells? I don’t have any preconceptions about ingredients or scents and I’m careful to keep it that way! I like being surprised. I like to make green notes warm, woods liquid and flowers nasty. If I had to choose one ingredient, it’s patchouli, a woody herb I still haven’t managed to tame completely!
What is the biggest challenge to creating a new fragrance? In a crowded marketplace, how do you grab and hold attention? I want to create emotion and move the people who wear it. Isn’t it nice to be asked, “What perfume are you wearing?” or receive the wonderful compliment, “You smell good.” The associations each of us make are linked to our personal history and memories.
How has the business changed over the course of your career? It’s constantly transforming. The notion of gender is disappearing and ecological issues are appearing while prohibitions and constraints are multiplying. Our concerns about environmental and social issues are key. We have a moral duty to consider procurement and industrial choices. These are creative opportunities.
How do you think the future of fragrance might look different? I don’t want to predict the future, as that means talking about trends. My dream is to ban tests and consumer panels that have confined the world of fragrances. Boldness would become the biggest trend.
Christine Nagel, wearing Collier de Chien bracelets, which inspired the bottle design of her latest fragrance creation, Barénia; photography courtesy of Hermès
from left: Terre d’Hermès and Barénia Eau de Parfum by HERMES; photography courtesy of Hermès
Taken from 10 Magazine Issue 74 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
