Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian answers questions about his perfume line, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, and how he has learned from other perfumers. About 5 minutes.
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That was ‘a real pain’. LOL! All Edmond Roudnitska’s are the same?! And he doesn’t like any of them?!
Come back, Serge, all is forgiven!
It’s kind of shocking to hear a perfumer say he doesn’t like any of Edmond Roudnitska’s fragrances! I guess at least he is honest. And maybe it explains why I admire Francis Kurkdjian but love so few of his fragrances — we just have very different taste.
I was so shocked I left out the word ‘fragrances’ in my sentence. LOL!
I know very little about this guy so I’m wondering why you admire him. And, frankly, I don’t think I want to know more.
He is a very good perfumer — nearly everything he has made, I have thought was extraordinarily well done. And he has done some real classics — JPG Le Male, for instance, which is simply iconic even if I don’t ever need to smell it again. His work just tends to be not to my taste. I do own Iris Nobile, and I wouldn’t mind owning Fleur de Male.
Hmm… maybe I do want to know more.
“[Francoise Caron] is a prima donna, and I am the dog, the little dog running around her…” made me laugh.
That really was funny.
This was great. I really like Kurkdjian. I find the two I own, Lumiere Noire and Absolue pour le Soir, sometimes lack a little smoothness in transition between notes. I guess I mean they don’t always seem well blended. Also, sometimes I think Absolue is just base notes. BUT, I love wearing both, and that’s important, no? I always enjoy the transition from honey to musk in Absolue. The patchouli in Lumiere Noire is well done too. If you like Portrait of a Lady, try Lumiere Noire, for a lesser price point.
I think Kurkdjian is quite gifted. I’d love to try what he did for Parfums MDCI.
And – I love Francoise Caron! I don’t know why Kurkdjian didn’t think of Margot Fonteyn’s name. I understand he used to be a dancer.
He spoke at the Lycee Francais of Chicago for their gala a couple of years ago. A friend has kids there. She said he was very likeable.
His store in Paris is lovely and in a great location. You must visit if you go to Paris.
Wow, as a perfumer myself, this interview is really very moving for me. I so much feel like him, I work for myself now and creating a perfume where there is no client behind you telling that it is READY, I can just go on forever. And there are sooo much expectations towards a perfume, the one that stresses me out is that everybody wants the perfume to smell forever on their skin. Including me. So now I made a beautifully romantic accord and I thought I am ready, but it stays for like 1 hour on my skin. very difficult indeed to answer all these expectations. I think this was the first interview I saw Kurkdjian as a human being ( he looks always so full of himself ) I feel so close to him now