Nose for success
Frédéric Malle gives top perfumers the freedom to compose fresher fragrances, writes Catharine Nicol
In a fragrance market saturated by designer brands and big-name celebrities, one man stands apart as the very antithesis of all things commercial.
Frédéric Malle, whose grandfather founded Christian Dior Parfums, and whose mother was the company’s art director, studied art history before starting his career with renowned perfumers Roure Bertrand Dupont in 1986. After years as a consultant to companies, such as Mark Birley and Hermès, he grew increasingly unhappy with the industry’s direction. He banded together with a group of like-minded “noses”, and in 2000 Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle was born.
“I got all those complainers together,” he says, of fragrance greats including Pierre Bourdon, Sophia Grojsman, Carlos Benaïm and Jean-Claude Ellena. “I have the perfumers I respect the most in the industry working with me.”
The result? As Malle describes it: “When I came up with the term ‘editeur de parfums’, 12 years ago, I was determined to liberate perfumers from the kinds of restraints often imposed by marketers and focus groups. I work as an editor works with writers. Each perfumer is free to use the most innovative technologies and the rarest raw materials the industry offers.”