The perfume designer is a very fascinating professional role. Even in the 21st century, this profession remains.
The ideal perfume designer needs to be artist, chemist and alchemist. This profession is actually very old; it was born more than 4000 years ago, when the purpose of creating perfumes was to please the gods.
The profession and the social role of the perfume maker evolved dramatically over the centuries. The perfume designer got out of the temple, straight into the court of kings and princes, then out again ending up the perfume labs of the fashion industry. The technology around the business changed too, making many more tools available and increasing the ways in which the perfume makers could express their artistic talent.
If many aspects of the business changed, others didn’t. Creating a perfume is still an act that requires a good knowledge of science, chemistry, technology, history of art. A multifaceted profession, which also needs to be sustained by a strong will and determination.
Understandably, given the nature of this profession, there are not many schools that provide a specific education. The knowledge of perfume making has always been passed on from father to son, or (like for painters) from master to apprentice. One of the most established perfumery schools is located in the Provence region, in Grasse, the world’s capital of perfume.
Since the beginning of the 70s, France has been the country offering the widest range of opportunities to people willing to start this fascinating carer.
The “young noses” start their apprenticeship by attempting to reproduce what Nature created, illustrating the smell of a rose covered with the morning dew, or the delicate smell of the lily of the valley, or the delicate aroma of jasmine. The most important thing at this level is to memorize the different fragrances of nature, both singularly and in combination with others. The purpose is to train and create an olfactive memory.
Passion, discipline and a great attention to details are the most important qualities. The apprenticeship to perfumes is long, students will need to smell, repeatedly and daily the same materials until they get to remember not only the smell, but also their properties and all the possible combinations.
At a later stage, students start to reproduce the smells that have the closest connection in their memory and their emotional sphere, starting from their childhood.
The last stage will be shifting from the personal to the general, trying to reproduce the classic fragrances. The point here is that they have to be able to fully understand the great harmonies created by others (think of a Cartier Perfume or a Creed parfume) in order to create new ones.
All these steps are necessary for the final achievement: creating a perfume that others can truly enjoy.
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