Francis Kurkdjian - fashion's scent-maker: The Week

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Week has unveiled an article about French-Armenian perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, who has collaborated with Jean Paul Gaultier, Hedi Slimane and Narciso Rodriguez and masterminded scents for more than forty brands and designers.

"I always relate it to acting", says Kurkdjian, who established his own brand in 2009. "You act in your own play, in your own house. You decide on the décor, the story, the visual – everything. When you are invited to work for somebody else, you fit in, within a casting."

Kurkdjian has been commissioned by beauty industry behemoths, from Acqua di Parma and Lancôme to Guerlain, while partnering with cultural institutions: in the autumn of 2016, Kurkdjian presented his recreation of Marie Antoinette's fragrance, for which he translated and followed rare 17th century formulations, in aide of the Château de Versailles.

Chief among his numerous projects ranks Kurkdjian's work for fashion houses and designers, as the master perfumer has created fragrances for Giorgio Armani, Elie Saab, Versace, Nina Ricci and Yves Saint Laurent. "It's bespoke [fragrances] for a brand. You have to understand the brand, you have to read about the brand", says Kurkdjian. "When you work for a brand, you have to know the brand better than anyone else in the house". In 2006, Kurkdjian matched the romantic designs of Lanvin's erstwhile creative director Alber Elbaz with Rumeur, a bouquet of floral notes focused on white-petaled species including jasmin, rose and lily-of-the-valley. "When I started 25 years ago with Jean Paul Gaultier, I became specialised in working with haute couturiers", says Kurkdjian. "I believe this is my speciality because I love couture. I love the craft behind it".

Kurkdjian launched his own brand the same year he was named a Chevalier des Artes et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, in 2009 with business partner Marc Chaya. Today, the brand operates standalone boutiques in Dubai, Taiwan and, in the USA in Miami's Design District. Kurkdjian's two Paris boutiques are odes to the marvels of perfumery: in addition to his much-revered fragrances such as Cologne Pour le Soir and Baccarat Rouge 540, his collaboration with the storied French producer of crystalware, stock includes scented leather cardholders and Les Bulles d'Agathe, Kurkdjian's luxurious take on children's bubble toys, scented with the aroma of cut grass, roses and cold mind. Elsewhere, laundry detergents and fabric softeners promise to infuse clothing with the fresh citrus notes of the brand's Aqua Universalis.

The Kurkdjian family fled the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian Genocide and settled in France after being deported and relocated to Aleppo.