He’s the perfumer who created the TikTok-viral Baccarat Rouge 540, the indie darling Petit Matin, the luxurious J’adore l’Or, and the irreverent scented bubbles that he once released in Paris’s Grand Palais. Francis Kurkdjian seems to be everything everywhere all at once as the founder of his own house, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, and the perfume-creation director at Parfums Christian Dior. His latest scent for his own label is a fruity, sweet almond blend called Kurky. “I wanted something juicy and fun for adults who haven’t forgotten they were kids once,” he says. He distinguishes it from all the cookie-dough piña colada sprays that are flooding the market right now. “Those are more like a fat, buttery coconut. Like a Bounty candy bar. Kurky is like looking at the sunshine, like happiness and vitamin D.” We asked Kurkdjian about his scents and sensibilities, and what he wishes the world smelled like. —Linda Wells
What’s the first scent you remember?
Fresh banana with milk, a bit of white sugar, and cinnamon. My grandmother used to prepare that for me after school. That is the flavor of my childhood. My mother used to wear Madame Rochas, which is a floral aldehyde from the 70s that was the big thing at the time. Later she moved on to First, by Van Cleef & Arpels. And then the smell of the staircase from my grandparents’ apartment. It connected the basement to the first floor, so it was the earthiness of the basement mixed with the wax of the wooden floor. That’s very specific. It’s honey-like.
What’s your ProustIAN madeleine?
Mimosa flower. That was the flower my grandmother used to have at home at the end of December to January or February. It was mimosa season. But it’s not anymore, because of climate change. The harvest this year was terrible. I used mimosa in Aqua Celestia. It has a kind of powdery, almondy scent. It also smells like a very specific glue, Cléopâtre glue, that we have in France.
Do you bring fragrance with you when you travel?
I bring Papier d’Arménie, a little booklet of scented paper that you fold and burn. The traditional scent hasn’t changed since 1885, but I made three new scents for them. If a hotel room doesn’t smell good, you burn this, and within a minute you get your home scent. It also makes your suitcase smell good.
Is there a scent from nature that you love?
Cut grass. We made bubbles in that scent. Two years ago, I was asked by the French National Geographic Institute to create the smells of nine different French landscapes. There’s an urban scent, the scent of the seashore, the scent of the South of France, of Garrigues, Corsica, the west coast.
Can you name a fragrance that you admire and would never change?
No. 19, by Chanel, the original one with that green galbanum, like a green pea, and the iris note. It’s very charming, very French.
Which fragrance lifts your mood?
The smell of a good meal. I have a chef at home at times, and she makes amazing cookies. The smell of chocolate, butter, and a little salt.... When that smell comes out of the oven, I know it’s going to be a good moment.
Do you have a favorite food scent?
Besides my cookies? A French baguette that’s just out of the oven, or a croissant or viennoiserie. I’m very lucky to live by a great boulangerie called Arlette et Colette.
How about a food scent you can’t bear?
Cauliflower when it’s cooking. That’s terrible. I have a recipe for cauliflower cooked in the oven in parchment paper that’s supergood and doesn’t smell.
What scent do you like that most people don’t?
I assume parts of parfumerie like civet or leathery stuff, indole, the white flower part of jasmine. But if it’s well blended, you don’t notice it. That’s the magic.
Is there a scent that made you want to become a perfumer?
Poison was one of them. It was 1985, and I was 16 years old, at the very beginning of my interest in perfume. I remember going on the Champs-Élysées and smelling Poison because it was so popular. At the time you were forbidden to wear some perfumes [in restaurants] like Opium, Poison. Now no one cares.
I wish the world smelled like …
Peace. I don’t know what that smells like. I’m not talented enough to know. Vanilla is supposed to be the world’s most popular scent. Maybe it puts people at peace. White musk, maybe, because that’s part of laundry detergent and it’s linked to clean and neat. The whole imagery behind that scent goes to the idea of cleanness, freshness, healthiness. It’s about that association.
Is there a fragrance that makes you feel awake?
Coffee. Or the smell of grilled bread.
How about the best scent to go to sleep?
If I want to relax, I use Aqua Celestia shower gel. It’s bubbly and fruity. I have no problem getting to sleep. I learned how to sleep anywhere when I did my military service.
Do you ever dream of smells?
When I’m sleeping, no. I need a break. I dedicate a lot of the day to scent, so it should leave me alone at night. If I have an idea for a fragrance, I make a note right away on my phone, so I’m done and can give my brain a break.
Linda Wells is the Editor at Air Mail Look
