An audience with a master perfumer

Francis Kurkdjian, French perfumer and artistic director of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, shares the sources of inspiration and discoveries on his journey into the world of luxury fragrances

- Francis Kurkdjian

WITH AN EXPERTISE THAT SPANS DECADES of making luxury fragrances for some of the most sought-after brands, French perfumer and artistic director Francis Kurkdjian elevated the game when he co-launched his fragrance house Maison Francis Kurkdjian, with his business partner Marc Chaya, CEO and President. The highly respected perfumer chats inspiration, entrepreneurship and creative process with GQ Editor-in-Chief Molife Kumona.

GQ: One of the things that strikes any of us who have used or come across any Maison Francis Kurkdjian bottle are the design elements, tell us the creative process behind the bottles you wanted for your perfume house?

Frank Kurkdijian: The heart of my inspiration is Paris. The lights of its monuments, the grey of its rooftops. Paris inspires the universe of my fragrance house : grey zinc, gold and light. The inspiration for the flacon comes from a crystal bottle I found while antiquing. The original piece was designed to be part of a travelling toiletries case. I had the idea of a flacon that travelled and returned fitting exactly into its holder. It led me to design a flacon sectioned in square crystal facets and shaped from the base to the neck. It is produced in France and I asked the glassmakers to create angles as alive as possible without appearing too aggressive. To underline this artesian work, I added the monogram of the House, as a discrete signature at the back of the bottle, much in the manner of artists signing works with pride. A tube extends from the atomizer pump but seems to disappear after the first spray, leaving the perfume languid in its container. It’s high technology even it does not seem it is!