On The Nose

Scentmaker Frederick Bouchardy’s Constant Search for Newness Has Made Him the Go-to Fragrancer for Everyone From Opening Ceremony to the Late Zaha Hadid.

- Jonathan Shia

SCENT IS PERHAPS the most ephemeral of the senses, and, for that reason, the hardest to master. The processes of sight, sound, touch, and taste are easily understood, but where does smell come from? Surprising as it may be, it wasn’t that long ago that Frederick Bouchardy— who, as the founder of fragrance studio Joya, has created scents for Rodarte, Barneys, Dream Hotels, and Opening Ceremony—didn’t know the answer to that question himself.

A native New Yorker, Bouchardy had spent time working at a law firm in Hong Kong and covering terrorism as a reporter for the European television network Arte before teaming up with a friend to create a natural candle. “There seemed to be a giant hole in the marketplace,” he recalls. “We looked at companies selling hundreds of millions of dollars of candles thinking, ‘Where exactly is this coming from? What is it doing? What industry is it supporting?’ We stumbled upon a wax blend that I thought would be a game changer.” His instincts were correct, and, thanks to a family introduction, that candle was soon sold at Saks.