Julien Rasquinet

Q - How did you become interested in perfumery, and what inspired you to pursue a career as a perfumer?

 Before the love of perfumes came smells. Perfumers feel the world differently from everybody else. For other people the visual aspect will be more important than a smell, but for a perfumer, smells are the strongest memory they have. When I think of my grandparents I think of the smell of their house before I remember their voice. The smell of forest, salt, horses, nature, freshly cut grass, etc. That is the first thing that comes to mind before any visual aspect.

 Q - What is your creative process like, when developing a new fragrance? Where do you get your inspiration?

 I always try to explain a story when I am creating a perfume. I do not like it to be a transcription of what I have seen in nature, I like to have a more romantic vision of the story. When I am creating, I seek to awaken emotions. A perfume starts with an idea. Then the words come but I try to have the emotion before the idea. Then words arrive from which we pull the thread to explain a story.

Q - What do you find most rewarding about being a perfumer, and what keeps you passionate about your craft? 

For me, the most comforting thing is when it is announces that we have won a project, it is an incredible moment. The job of a perfumer can often be challenging, as there are many projects we work on, often for months that take a long time to launch. There is the personal satisfaction of being able to do something new and innovative. When you think you have made an idea come true, that is satisfying. It is hard to quantify. But there are times when we say to ourselves, yes I found a chord, a chord that really has something.