Perfumer Aurélien Guichard of MATIERE PREMIERE and Takasago collage by Emmanuelle and photos courtesy of the brand
You can say that perfume is in Aurelien Guichard’s DNA as his father is the renowned Jean Guichard (Calvin Klein Obsession and Paco Rabanne La Nuit both launched in 1985). I knew of Aurélien Guichard’s perfumes before I knew his name. I wore his 2007 Piguet Visa to my wedding and to this day, it is one of my few “signature” scents. His Chinatown for Bond No. 9 was inducted into our CaFleureBon Modern Masterpiece Hall of Fame 2013. When Aurélien Guichard launched MATIERE PREMIERE in 2019, there was so much buzz in Paris that all of us in the USA were counting the months before the collection would arrive in the United States. Our Sr. Editor Emmanuelle Varron and former Sr. Editor Despina Veneti brought the new collection to our readers’ attention.
In this interview with Aurélien Guichard, he was kind enough to answer every question, some quite personal. They say timing is everything, and for all those who waited patiently for MATIERE PREMIERE to arrive in the USA, MATIERE PREMIERE is here!- Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief
Michelyn Camen: Where were you born? Please tell us about your childhood…
Aurélien Guichard: I was born in Grasse, and raised between the fields of jasmine and roses that belonged to my grandparents in Grasse, and the city life in Paris, where my parents worked. I am from a family of perfumers, and during my childhood, creating perfumes, growing flowers or perfume production appeared to me as part of our way of life, more than strictly a profession.
Aurélien Guichard with his father Jean Guichard courtesy of the brand
Your father is a perfumer; your mother is sculptor. How did their work inform your perfumes?
Aurélien Guichard: I grew up in an artistic environment. At home painters, sculptors, couturiers, designers, architects, perfumers and many other kinds of artists were part of our daily lives. I remember dinners in Paris or Grasse with my parents’ friends. They were talking about creation that involved different types of artistic expression. They were talented artists talking about their passion, exchanging and confronting ideas and experiences. I was lucky to grow up with them not only because they were successful and talented artists, but because they were open-minded and humble people, believing in diversity of talents and of visions of life. The reason why I was drawn towards creating perfume was probably because I wanted to collaborate with creative people from different origins and countries.
I was certainly influenced by this environment. Because I have such wonderful memories given by these unique people surrounding me in my childhood, and also because I could see both the happiness and sadness, hopes and disappointments, dedication and human friendship linked to the creative work of my father – I knew what I was stepping into when I decided to become a perfumer.
Aurélien Guichard with his mother’s sculptures/MATIERE PREMIERE TUBEROSE HARVEST 2022 ATELIER copyright Alexis Jacquin
At what age did you begin to study perfume and where? What was your first fragrance as a nose?
Aurélien Guichard: I began studying perfumery at Givaudan Perfumery school at the age of 21, after completing University studies in the UK. The perfumery school was located in Paris. It lasted for 3 wonderful years. It required hard discipline, as you learn by heart all the ingredients and techniques, a little bit like studying at les Beaux Arts. It was all about dedication. I remember the first time I stepped into the laboratory and saw thousands of bottles… it appeared to me like a whole universe, everything and anything seemed possible. This day changed my life – creating perfume became my passion. I wanted to know every single ingredient from every single bottle. I memorized about 2000 ingredients within three years. I was entirely dedicated to the raw materials.
A few months after finishing perfumery school, I was lucky to meet Sylvaine Delacourte and Margerie Barbès-Petit, who believed in my work and trusted me respectively to create Anisia Bella for Guerlain (Acqua Allegoria) and Love in Paris for Nina Ricci. I was just 24, and my career started thanks to them both. One year later, I was composing Unforgivable by Sean John (with Pierre Négrin, Dave Apel and Caroline Sabas in NY).
Two things still strike me today as important takeaways from this period. First, the creative conviction and courage it took, for established brands and marketing directors to let a young trainee perfumer create his first perfumes alone, under no Master Perfumer’s guidance and supervision. This is rare.
And second, how beautiful it was to create my first fragrances for brands and people of such different backgrounds and sensibilities – for Sean John in the US, and for established French brands like Guerlain and Nina Ricci.
I still cherish this diversity and boldness in creation today.
Aurélien Guichard, earlier in his career
There are quite a few classically trained perfumers who started their own brands. Why did you decide to do this?
Aurélien Guichard: I did not want to create a brand per se, but a “Maison de Parfumeur” – a house led by a Perfumer, whose mission is to push the limits in terms of olfactive quality and know-how. A house which places fragrance quality at the very center of each single step and consideration. A house which embodies that French Perfumery is all about extreme olfactive modernity and quality, far from the old-fashioned craft as some may see it.
Atelier de Création
It all began when, in 2015, I decided to plant Rose Centifolia on our family domain in the Grasse region. My grand-parents were approaching the end of their life, they had quit farming a few years back. They had taught me so much in my childhood, I wanted to perpetuate this local and family know-how. Also, as a perfumer, I needed to do something more than just formulating. So I filed all the paperwork to acquire the official status of farmer, opened my own organic farm and became the only perfumer to grow his own raw materials.
To me, it is a return to the essentials of fragrance creation. I have always been attracted to nature.
My two partners (and friends) Cedric Meiffret and Caius Von Knorring also believed in that vision. We met developing fragrances for designer brands such as Kenzo, Nina Ricci, Valentino – Caius was a Marketing Director, he was my client, and Cedric was working with me at Givaudan as an Account Director. The team and collaboration is key at MATIERE PREMIERE. We share the exact same vision, MATIERE PREMIERE is a collaborative process.
Together, we thought there was something absolutely beautiful about the simplicity of a raw material. When I smell an ingredient from my perfume organ, I already see beauty and, in many cases, unique textures and technical olfactive qualities. Often, as fragrances are complex and made with many ingredients, the quality of a single ingredient is not perceivable by the person who wears the fragrance.
We decided our goal would be to turn a raw material into a perfume, with a unique construction: use a very high dosage of one central, extremely qualitative and natural ingredient, then use only a few more, equally qualitative ingredients to facet the main one.
Aurelien Guichard and his fragrance essences
Why did you name your collections MATIERE PREMIERE
Aurélien Guichard: “Matière première” means “raw material” in French. It is the basic, starting point of our creative process.
Not everyone can relate to a fragrance. However, when it comes to raw materials, anyone can appreciate the beauty of a citron, a sandalwood, a rose or a tuberose. Raw materials are so complex and variable depending on the origins, the terrains, the climate, the farming, the way they are extracted…. Raw materials are for me, as a perfumer, the colors that I use to create emotions. I search and source the right ones to express my creative idea. Fragrances by MATIERE PREMIERE are just like their central raw material: they have no gender, they combine great power and diffusion with a sense of comfort, they allow you to comprehend what you are wearing, and smelling them will bring unique emotions.
We are thrilled to hear back from our clients since we launched in 2019 that our collection is one of head-turners and compliment-getters!
Atelier de creation table with roses
Do you have any mentors in addition to your father?
Aurélien Guichard: I have no particular mentor, and I say this in a very humble way. But I have a lot of admiration for certain creations made by contemporary Perfumers: Dior Homme, L’Eau d’Issey, Chloé… to name a few. When I do not work, I love wearing perfumes made by other perfumers, because I do not know the formula behind… it is such a pleasure when the creation is beautiful!
photo by Nicoleta
I am a fan of 2007 Visa which you know. Can you tell us about your years at Piguet?
Aurélien Guichard: Thank you so much. I have created and looked after historical formulas of Piguet from 2006. I have always tried to preserve the wonderful creations that were imagined way before I was born, such as Fracas and Bandit for example. On top of this I was also given the opportunity to create fragrances such as Visa, also known as V. The work for Piguet was in line with my conception of luxury: no limit to ingredients quality and a distinctive olfactive style, typical of Piguet.
I must have created or readapted over 20 fragrances for Piguet. Sometimes it was about respecting the existing formulas, sometimes about creating new signature scents that respected the Piguet DNA.
The style of a Piguet fragrance is radically different from that of a MATIERE PREMIERE one. But in both cases, there is no concessions on quality, diffusion and creativity. Piguet is probably more baroque, when MATIERE PREMIERE is more minimal and modern. The common goal is to create timeless signature fragrances.
Looking back, I think the collaboration with Robert Piguet and the people who make this fragrance house what it is, gave me the courage to start my own fragrance house. I also drew courage from the admiration I have for many great people I have had the chance to collaborate with, people such as Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez, John Galliano, Diane Von Furstenberg, Carine Roitfeld, Sean John and many more… What they have achieved, creatively and from a business point of view, founding their own houses, is a pure, admirable act of creation.
In what ways have you grown as a perfumer over the past decade, how has your approach to olfaction changed?
Aurélien Guichard: I don’t feel like my approach has changed, but it has certainly broadened. Since the beginning of my career, it is the richness and diversity of the encounters that drive my creative olfactive approach. I have always loved putting my craft at the service of designers or personalities and their creative universe, when I compose for couture brands – how to best express with a fragrance their stories, feelings, emotions, visions or desires fascinates and motivates me tremendously. And today, I have the immense joy to both continue this, and also put my craft at the service of the beauty of the raw materials, when I create for MATIERE PREMIERE.
How do you balance your role at Takasago with your own brand?
Aurélien Guichard: With Takasago I work for successful designers that I admire and fashion houses that I love, on worldwide projects. I am very lucky for that, and also because Takasago made it possible for me to become founder of my own farm and of a new perfume house. They gave me the opportunity to work the way I wanted to work – with freedom, and in a different manner than traditional perfumers do. Diversity and freedom are the soil of my creative work.
I need freedom. Freedom in the way I organize my time according to the calendar of projects. Freedom in the places where I work – I have my own lab near my fields in Grasse, that allows me to continue my work of composition and formulation while being present on the farm during the harvest periods for example. Also freedom in my fields of activity. I cannot see the work of perfumer as purely a work of formulation. I founded my organic farm because I like the direct contact with nature, being involved with agriculture. I wanted to contribute to the farming activity in the South of France, which is key to the worldwide production of amazing ingredients.
I founded a fragrance house because on top of being its single perfumer, I am also the Artistic Director, I can express my aesthetic vision from the fragrance to the packaging and imagery of the House. I am very grateful to Takasago for making it possible, just like they made it possible for my friend Francis Kurkdjian.
What perfume do you wish you had created?
Aurélien Guichard: So many…. My top four at the moment would be for men Dior Homme and Terre d’Hermès, for women L’Eau d’Issey and Chanel n°5.
What fragrance are you the proudest of?
Aurélien Guichard: It is impossible for me to name one only! Radical Rose and French Flower by MATIERE PREMIERE are very special to me, because they are made with my own organic Centifolia Roses and Tuberoses. Right now, I have fond memories of creating Narciso by Narciso Rodriguez, Gucci Guilty and Gucci pour Homme, Eros by Versace, and Burberry Hero.
French Flower and Radical Rose collage by Emmanuelle
Can you talk to us about your family’s rose and tuberose fields?
Aurélien Guichard: The fields are located in Provence, near Grasse. My family has gained through generations a savoir-faire in growing perfume ingredients. The fields are surrounded by nature. You can see ancient hilltop villages around. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places in Provence.
The Guichard family’s tuberose field
We grow every single flower organically, under the eco-certification Ecocert. Our flower fields cover 4 hectares, with 22 000 tuberose bulbs and 12 000 rose Centifolia trees. The pickers are local people who have been working with us for generations, Rose Centifolia is harvested every year only once, in May, hence its nick name 3rose de Mai”, while tuberoses are harvested between end of August until end of October. As the tuberose bulbs must be preserved from frost, we dig them out in November, store them and then plant them back in May the following year.
Preparing roses for extraction Extraction
Enfleurage is a lost art, can you speak to why you chose to use this technique in French Flower?
Aurélien Guichard: With French Flower, I wanted to create a fragrance that would transport you near a tuberose field, at the end of the Provence summer, when the sun sets and the flowers start releasing their scent in an incredibly intoxicating and enveloping way.
There is a warmth in this unique smell, partly given by the sun the flowers have been exposed to all day, that only Enfleurage could render. It is a technique which uses frames with a glass panel that is covered with vegetal wax. Flowers are carefully layered on this wax that will absorb their olfactive molecules, with layers renewed until the wax is fully ready to be distillated. We have this great partnership with Grasse-based company Robertet, which revived this traditional technique.
MATIERE PREMIERE tuberose enfleurage frame – copyright Matière Première
Your favorite movie?
Aurélien Guichard: Any movie by Pedro Almodovar.
Almodovar movies – collage Emmanuelle
Your favorite restaurants in NYC, London and Paris?
Aurélien Guichard:In NYC: Felix in Soho- fun! In Paris, I love Brasserie Lipp, a Parisian classic.
Germaine Cellier copyright Wikipedia
If you could meet any perfumer from the past who would it be and why?
Aurélien Guichard: I would love to meet Germaine Cellier. She was the first woman perfumer, a strong personality, she knew what she wanted! She created great fragrances for great designers of her time, Piguet, Balmain, Balenciaga. She was friend with many artists.
I have to tell you this, any time I show your photo on Instagram, inadvertently quite a few people ask if you are single? Are you?
Aurélien Guichard: That is probably because Instagram is not reality and I do not post enough pictures of my girlfriend-now-spouse – we got married last July!
French Flower in tuberoses copyright Alexis Jacquin
Which raw material has been the most problematic technically to work with in fragrance?
Aurélien Guichard: So far, I would say the Tuberose in French Flower. I wanted a modern tuberose note strictly composed with tuberose, and none of the other flowers usually present in tuberose scents such as ylang-ylang, jasmine, iris…
Technically speaking I had many requirements: diffusion, modernity, on of top making sure that the fragrance remained transparent. I chose to combine Tuberose Absolu from Grasse with Tuberose Enfleurage, to give an olfactive impression of brightness and whiteness. It was quite a challenge!
Which fragrance took the longest time to create. Which took the shortest?
Aurélien Guichard: Gucci for Men took the shortest development time, in only 10 tries we knew we had it! Wonderlust by Michael Kors (with Honorine Blanc) and Radical Rose by MATIERE PREMIERE took the longest.
I created a first version of Radical Rose and presented it to the press just before the first COVID lockdown. Only a week later, we were all confined, and I was lucky to stay during 6 months in my atelier in Grasse. I felt the fragrance was not good enough. I called my partners and told them I had to start all over again! I worked night and day during 6 months, including during the month of May, the month of the Rose Centifolia harvest, weighing and compounding every try myself. I came up with the final version at the end of the lockdown, it was on a Friday. On the following Monday, I called the press I saw 6 months earlier, to explain. They were kind and understanding – everyone was so happy to be free again!
What aspect of culture has had the most profound effect on your work?
Aurélien Guichard: I love when minimalism and functionalism meet an overdose of (raw) materials and colors, in some Impressionist paintings or in street art. I am also a great fan of Japanese architects like Tadao Ando – I love his use of few strong materials, his conception of space.
It feels close to my approach for MATIERE PREMIERE, with an immense dosage of one natural raw material in a minimalist formula and esthetic.
One of Tadao Ando latest creations: a 29 meter-wide and 9-meter-high concrete cylinder, part of his renovation of Paris Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection contemporary art museum – picture taken by Emmanuelle Varron during the Charles Ray exhibition.
Do you have hobbies or passions outside of perfumery?
Aurélien Guichard: I play Field Hockey for Paris and the French National team. I also love kite Surfing and Surfing.
If you could capture elements of nature in a fragrance, what would they be?
Aurélien Guichard: The wind from Provence, le Mistral. The song of birds in the early morning. The smell of salt, sand and sun.
If you weren’t a perfumer, you would be…?
Aurélien Guichard: A professional field hockey player, or a painter!
Is there less differentiation today between high end niche and mainstream fragrances than a decade ago?
Aurélien Guichard: I still see as many masterpiece creations in mainstream fragrances brands, as I see in high end niche brands. In the same way I see as many boring fragrances in niche and mainstream brands.
What is niche our days? It probably does not have the same definition as it had 10 years ago. Beyond words and labels, I believe in high-end fragrances. At MATIERE PREMIERE, we do our best to be part of the most modern high-end fragrance houses.
Congratulations on your 2021 Fragrance Foundation Award for Radical Rose. What did it mean to you as a young brand?
Aurélien Guichard: It meant a lot! Especially because this specific award is called “Perfume extraordinaire”, and recognizes a combination of unique creativity, know-how and extreme quality. This is what MATIERE PREMIERE is all about, we felt so grateful to be seen for what we are.
Aurelien Guichard and saffron for MATIERE PREMIERE new creation Crystal Saffron 2022 ©Alexis Jacquin
What’s Next?
Aurélien Guichard: First of all, a new fragrance – even if we like to take our time with creation, this year we had both our beautiful, home-grown tuberose French Flower, but also an amazing saffron, so bright and so enveloping, we could not hold it back – I hope you will enjoy Crystal Saffron!
And we are planting more ingredients for future projects… but nature take time, I will be back to talk about it!
We would be thrilled to have you come back! When will MATIERE PREMIERE be sold in the USA?
Aurélien Guichard: It is starting now, in September 2022 – we couldn’t be more excited!
Mille Mercis to MATIERE PREMIERE we have a custom set of six fragrances of your choice with a quality comment for one registered reader USA, UK and EU. You must register. To be eligible, please leave a quality comment (he will be looking at your comments) about what sparked your interest in this interview, a fragrance he composed that you love, are you familiar with MATIERE PREMIERE and where you live. Draw closes 9/19/2022
Art Direction: Emmanuelle Varron, Senior Editor
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Perfumes by Aurélien Guichard (Main Creations) 2004-2022
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What surprised me was the breadth and depth of Aurelien’s body of work, with a wide variety of niche, luxury, designer, mainstream and celebrity fragrances.-Michelyn
2004
Aqua Allegoria Anisia Bella Guerlain
Love In Paris Nina Ricci
Les Belles de Ricci Cherry Fantasy Nina Ricci
2005
Chinatown Bond N°9 (A ÇaFleureBon Modern Masterpiece )
2006
Baghari 2006 Robert Piguet
Unforgivable (with Pierre Negrin, Dave Apel and Caroline Sabas) Sean John
2007
Andy Warhol Silver Factory Bond N°9
Play Comme Des Garçons
Moon Sparkle Men Escada
Ricci Ricci (with Jacques Huclier), l’Eau du Temps (with Jean Guichard) Nina Ricci
Visa 2007, Cravache 2007 Robert Piguet
2008
Azzaro Couture Azzaro
Gucci Pour Homme Gucci
John Galliano pour Femme (with Christine Nagel)
Eau de Fleur de Thé Kenzo
2009
La Roue de la Fortune D&G
Unidentified Fragrance Object Kenzo
For Her Musc Eau de Parfum Intense, Narciso Rodriguez
Angel Sun Essence (with Louise Turner) Thierry Mugler
2010
Aqua Verde Men Azzaro
Champion Davidoff
Gucci Guilty
Le Mâle Terrible Jean Paul Gaultier
John Galliano EDT
Calypso Robert Piguet
Loud (with Yann Vasnier) Tommy Hilfiger
2011
Champion Energy Davidoff
Diane Diane Von Furstenberg
Madly Kenzo
For Her In Color Narciso Rodriguez
Tommy Girl Eau de Prep Tommy Hilfiger
Angel Goût du Parfum Thierry Mugler
Trussardi Uomo Trussardi
2012
Pleats Please Issey Miyake
Casbah, Petit Fracas, Bois Noir, Oud Robert Piguet
Angel Aqua Chic Thierry Mugler
Eros Versace
2013
Gucci Guilty Intense
Gucci Guilty Black Pleats Please L’Eau Issey Miyake
Madly Oud Kenzo
L’Eau For Her Narciso Rodriguez
For Her Amber Musk Narciso Rodriguez
Nudo Amber Pomellato
Bois Bleu, Knightsbridge, Rose Perfection, Alameda Robert Piguet
Trussardi My Name Trussardi
Victoria (with Yann Vasnier and Adriana Medina) Victoria’s Secret
2014
Bella Notte Femme Cerruti
Cool Water Sea Rose Davidoff
Narciso Narciso Rodriguez
Gardénia , V. Intense Robert Piguet
Couture Tuberose Versace
Secret Forbidden (with Antoine Maisondieu) Victoria’s Secret
2015
Want Dsquared2
Gucci Intense Oud Gucci
For Her L’Absolu Narciso Rodriguez
Oud Divin, Oud Délice Robert Piguet
Ever Bloom Shiseido
2016
Want Pink Ginger Dsquared2
Uomo Salvatore Ferragamo (with Alberto Morillas)
L’Eau Majeure d’Issey (with Fabrice Pellegrin )Issey Miyake
Wonderlust (with Honorine Blanc) Michael Kors
Narciso Poudrée Narciso Rodriguez
Trussardi Uomo The Red
Valentina Poudre Valentino
This Is Him (with Nathalie Lorson) Zadig & Voltaire
2017
Uomo Casual Life (with Alberto Morillas) Ferragamo
L’Entier Robert Piguet
Ever Bloom Ginza Flower Shiseido
Sole Di Positano Tom Ford
Just Rock! For Him Zadig & Voltaire
2018
Governor’s Island Bond N°9
Parco Palladiano XIII Quadrifolio Bottega Veneta
Armani Privé Bleu Turquoise Giorgio Armani
L’Eau Super Majeure d’Issey (with Fabrice Pellegrin) Issey Miyake
Ambraser, Coffeeze et Ultra Hot J.U.S. Atomica Robert Piguet
2019
Illusione for Her (with Annick Ménardo & Amandine Clerc-Marie) Bottega Veneta
Aurélien, Orson, George (with Yann Vasnier) Carine Roitfeld
Shade of the sea, Shade of lagoon, Shade of sunrise Issey Miyake
MATIERE PREMIERE Parisian Musc, Néroli Oranger, Cologne Cédrat, Santal
Austral, Encens Suave, Bois d’Ebène, Falcon Leather
Heal your Mind Thierry Mugler
Trussardi Uomo Eau de Parfum Trussardi
Noire de Mai, Souvenirs de Tunisie, Vert Désir et Sexy Garrigue Véronique Gabai
2020
MATIERE PREMIERE Radical Rose
Narciso Eau de Parfum Ambrée Narciso Rodriguez
Bandit Suprême Robert Piguet
Do Not Drink Eau Sucrée Salée Sephora
2021
Hero Burberry
Midnight Journey Burberry
C’est Paris! Pour Homme Carven
MATIERE PREMIERE Oud Seven Harrods Exclusive
Narciso Eau Néroli Ambrée Narciso Rodriguez
Dandy Me (with Jérôme Di Marino) Paco Rabanne
2022
MATIERE PREMIERE French Flower, Crystal Saffron
My thanks to team MATIERE PREMIERE (Karine… mille mercis!!)