A Nose For A Job

If the world were to lose its vocabulary for emotion, Christian Dior’s perfumer-creator François Demachy describes to Jessica Liew how fragrances can communicate better than words.

- Jessica Liew

WE’RE IN A Parisian apartment, sitting down to tea with Christian Dior perfumer-creator, François Demachy. Moments ago, we had stepped from the garden-city of Singapore into this It-Girl-worthy apartment, in all its floodlit chic decor peppered with prized pieces of objet d’art, books and quivering scented candles. This is the 4,000 sqft pop-up penthouse atop ION Orchard mall, that the region’s media were flocking into town for. François had brought with him a piece of French savoir-faire for the opening of Singapore’s Maison Christian Dior boutique, some floors down.

François has the endearing appeal of a beloved grandfather and once the conversation flows, his wisecracks and spontaneity reveal the sensitivity that won over the Parfums Christian Dior group in 2006. The main nose of the prestigious Maison, he is a native to France’s perfume capital, Grasse, making him a natural at all things fragrance. His upbringing has ingrained a reverence for tradition and a perceptive originality in approaching his trade.

Funnily, the creator of iconic Dior perfumes like Dior Poison Girl and Dior J’Adore did not set out for this career path. “My calling to be a perfumer is almost a case of failing on everything else,” he admitted, ruefully. “I was meant to be a doctor or medical professional. In my days, whatever your father decided was what you’re supposed to become.”