According to Cosmetic News, perfumer Pierre Bourdon of Fragrance Resources is planning to retire shortly. From the brief biography of Bourdon at Frederic Malle:
Pierre Bourdon earned a degree in political science before changing directions and enrolling in the Roure Bertrand Dupont school in Grasse. The only protégé of celebrated perfumer Edmond Roudnitska, he went to work for Roure in Paris. In the 1980s, he revolutionized men's fragrance trends.
Bourdon created Iris Poudre and French Lover for Frederic Malle; other well known fragrances include Davidoff Cool Water, Yves Saint Laurent Kouros, Christian Dior Dolce Vita, Shiseido Féminité du Bois.
Note: image via Frederic Malle.
That man rocks my pineapple-loving world. Cool Water, Ferre EDP, D Luciano Soprani (ok, haven't sniffed it, but it's got it!), Worth Courtesan – he made fruity scents interesting.
Agreed.
He had been disillusioned with the fragrance business of the recent years for some time now…according to things divulged in private.
A pity!
If they were divulged in private, are you sure you want to post them here?
Just wonder how somebody who worked with his nose can really retire, I mean the nose is always busy, smelling things, registering it all in the mind.
Maybe he will just create a few more perfumes for the love of it, for people who mean something to him personally.
Being an artistically inclined person (with a very non-artistic job) I wonder how he did it at all. Trying to be creative and original, while pleasing the company and the public. Making a living by doing what you love under those conditions would be very difficult for me personally. I know you should have passion for your work, but I think the commercialization of your art would eventually burn you out. I'm blown away by people who have been as sucessfull as Mr. Bourdon.
I'm wearing Iris Poudre for the first time today, what a coincidence. He did some really brilliant work; Feminite du Bois is one of my personal favourites.
Agree w/ all of that — I think being a perfumer in today's world must be terribly frustrating.
He really has done some brilliant work. FdB alone is worth being remembered for.
It wasn't something that has been the object of a hush-hush coversation; don't worry
“He had been disillusioned with the fragrance business of the recent years …. ” he said it in public, in some article or interviews if I remember well.
His retirement is a shock for me … he is one of the best perfumers and also writers. He didn't become so popular as Ellena (with Hermes help) but he has also a strong point of view on creation, he wrote some very good articles and conferences (the last one, a month ago at SFP on the language of perfumes).