The French perfumer takes us through his creative process in making fragrances for Maison Francis Kurkdjian, including the iconic gender-neutral scent, 724
Having travelled the world exploring its wonderful cities—Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow, London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, and Los Angeles to name a few—it just follows that Francis Kurkdjian’s creations draw inspiration from the diverse culture, art, fashion and people he has been exposed to. “My creativity thrives in cities. I grew up just outside of Paris; today I live and work in the French capital. I lived in New York for a while, just after launching Le Mâle by Jean Paul Gaultier at the age of 25. All these metropolises, despite being so different from one another, share a magnetic, uplifting energy, something that makes you feel that everything is possible,” says the perfumer, artistic director and co-founder of his eponymous perfume brand, Maison Francis Kurkdjian.
Although proud of his Parisian roots and the ancient French tradition of fragrance-making, the perfumer believes that fragrance is part of every culture and that perfumery evolves with taste and society. “The real difference, traditionally, has been in the choice of preferred ingredients and in the way fragrance is experienced personally,” he explains.
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His creative process, he admits, is pretty much consistent with all his creations. It starts with a time of reflection during which he envisions the creative territory he wants to explore. “At this stage, it is not about the scent itself, it is about its purpose, meaning, and the story I want to tell. Perfume is truly a mirror of our time in a unique sensory way,” Kurkdjian shares. Once he has gathered his thoughts and inspirations, the perfumer starts looking for a name for this particular scent. “[The name] sums up what I want to say, the emotion I feel. It defines the story and clears the creative path. It’s like the title of a book or the name of a painting,” he continues.
The last step is writing the formula, the stage when Kurkdjian ensures that every ingredient used in his creations is of the best quality and works in harmony with each other. “Ingredients are like notes for a musician, they compose the final melody,” Kurkdjian muses. The Maison’s gender-neutral fragrance 724, for instance, features a totally abstract olfactory theme of shades of white whose textures overlap in an energetic, flowing rhythm. Its top notes evoke clean, energising freshness, conjuring memories of New York laundries at the break of day, combined with the elegant notes of bergamot from Italy. The mid notes induce an airy aura conveyed by a bouquet of flowers structured by jasmine absolute from Egypt, sweet peas and mock orange. In the base notes is the comforting sensation of a sandalwood-white musk accord.
“There is something about big cities that elevates you, electrifies you in a way. 724 is all that,” he declares.
