Dior Perfumer François Demachy Interviewed by The Fragrance Foundation - Fragrant Reading
Perfumer François Demachy (see short biography & list of works) is more specifically attached to Dior as an in-house perfumer but in fact works as an olfactory artistic director for a number of prestigious perfume brands owned by the LVMH group (check bio). He is the subject of the latest interview by The Fragrance Foundation."Have you ever persisted in implementing your own ideas at Dior...for a perfume you felt you absolutely had to create?
"Yes, certain perfumes that are coming out soon, in fact, began with an idea I came up with...
I'm not saying I have a particular vision of perfumery, but at Dior certain types of perfumes are expected and, most of the time, are created." He went on to say that, in his view, missing in the equation were a few products with a more "hand-crafted" connotation. He conceded that, while those products may not be commercially successful, he feels that there should be some products that convey a certain savoir-faire, a true reflection of quality. [...]
"In this profession, the ultimate perfume is ever the next one. And roses," he admitted, "are my fantasy perfume, but perhaps I'm better off not attempting to create such a perfume. That way, the desire remains alive."
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“We perfumers are writer-composers and performers! We converse in a language that many understand, but few can speak” - Beautiful!
Yes, I noticed that comment. What it made me think of: 1) there is certainly a sense of professional pride, some would say even corporation pride displayed here - why couldn't it be like for music with legions of good and very good amateur musicians practicing music? 2) there could be more aspiring-perfumers if the profession were better-known 3) there could be more perfumers if the profession were less secretive and more open to non-family-based recruits (it already is, but there are still many families of perfumers -- perhaps institute affirmative action quotas? Kurkdjian likes to stress that he is the first one in his family to be a perfumer) 4) it is a somewhat romantic conception of his trade in the day and age of perfume copycatting thanks to improved spying technology 5) I am not so sure that, that many people understand fragrance as perfume education is still very little developed
The part that is the most troublesome in this thinking in my opinion is the way in which Demachy does not seem interested in seeing more people turn to perfumery. It is very much in the vein of the old-school secretive conception of perfumery. Not to diss families of perfumers, but you know, it would be good to have a little variety in the mix. So yes, they really do seem to feel special, but if you think about it, it's a bit artificially maintained.