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BEAUTY
Interview w/ Aurélien Guichard from 'Matiere Premiere'
17/06/2020 — SMETS
YOUR FIRST OLFACTORY MEMORY?
THOSE MEMORIES BRING ME BACK TO THE SMELL OF MY MOTHER'S AND FATHER'S HANDS. I COME FROM AN ARTISTIC FAMILY; MY MOTHER WAS A MARBLE SCULPTOR AND MY FATHER A PERFUMER. WHEN YOU ARE YOUNG, YOU REACH THE HEIGHT OF THE HANDS OF AN ADULT. THESE ARE THE ONES WHO SET A FOUNDATION, THE ONES WHO EDUCATE US, THE ONES WHO CARRY FOR US, THE ONES WHO ACCOMPANY US THROUGH OUR LIFE. MY MOTHER'S HANDS SMELLED OF MARBLE DUST MIXED WITH THE SMELL OF CIGARETTE SMOKE - THE SMELL WAS PLEASANT: MINERAL AND SENSUAL. SHE WAS ALWAYS WEARING IN JEANS, PARABOOTS AND LIBERTO / AN ICONIC ARTISTIC STYLE. MY FATHER’S HANDS SMELLED OF PERFUME - A MIXTURE OF INNUMERABLE AND MYSTERIOUS RAW MATERIALS - IT SMELLED OF THE PERFUME FACTORY HE WORKED AT. HE CREATED FOR THE UPPER MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE WITH THE ELEGANCE OF SOPHISTICATED PEOPLE. IT WAS THE 80S: HE SOMETIMES WORE A COSTUME FOR ANY OCCASION – CLASSIC AND FORMAL.
WHY IS PERFUME A GOOD VEHICLE FOR IDENTITY BUILDING?
THE SCENT TOUCHES PEOPLE'S SOULS AND OFTEN REFLECTS IT. IT IS AN EXTENSION OF THE INVISIBLE IDENTITY. A FORM OF MAGIC HAPPENS WHEN IT IS WELL WORN. LIKE A COAT, IT COMES TO LIFE WHEN IT GETS A CHANGE TO BE WORN.
WHAT PERFUME WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE CREATED?
I ADMIRE MANY CREATIONS ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THEY LAST THROUGH THE YEARS AND ARE TIMELESS - AT THE SAME TIME IT IS DIFFICULT TO NAME A SPECIFIC ONE. THERE ARE SOME CREATIONS THAT STAND OUT FOR ME; DIOR HOMME, ADDICTIVE AND OF AN ALMOST FEMININE MASCULINITY, DIORISSIMO SO JUST IN THE INTERPRETATION OF A LILY OF THE VALLEY, CHANEL 19 A SUBLIME AND COMPLEX FRAGRANCE, THE MINIMAL WATER OF ISY MIYAKE ... AND MUCH MORE. I HAVE BEEN WORKING A LOT FOR NARCISO RODRIGUEZ AND ISSEY MIYAKE. I LOVE THEIR CREATIVE WORLDS.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RAW MATERIAL?
MY TASTES ALWAYS EVOLVE AND CHANGES. SOME OF MY FAVORITE RAW MATERIALS ARE: WOODY NOTES: PARTCHOULI, OUD, CEDAR, VETIVER, SANDALWOOD AND A FEW FLOWERS: ORANGE BLOSSOM AND CENTIFOLIA ROSES. WITH MATIERE PREMIERE WE GROW OUR OWN CENTIFOLIA ROSES IN ORGANIC CULTIVATION. WE USE THEM IN OUR PERFUMES. IT IS THE CULMINATION OF A DREAM AND A CONVICTION: CULTIVATE SOME OF OUR RAW MATERIALS ORGANICALLY WITH THE GREATEST RESPECT FOR NATURE AND GRASSE KNOW-HOW.
‘’ AS A TEENAGER, HELPING A FRIEND OF MY PARENTS PUT ON HER COAT, I SMELLED THE SCENT SHE WAS WEARING. IN A FRACTION OF A SECOND, THIS WOMAN BECAME DESIRABLE TO ME ‘’
AT WHAT POINT IN YOUR LIFE DID YOU KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE A 'NOSE'?
AS A TEENAGER, HELPING A FRIEND OF MY PARENTS PUT ON HER COAT, I SMELLED THE SCENT SHE WAS WEARING. IN A FRACTION OF A SECOND, THIS WOMAN BECAME DESIRABLE TO ME. I THEN REALIZED THAT CERTAIN SCENTS ON CERTAIN PEOPLE HAD THIS ALMOST MAGICAL POWER. AT THAT MOMENT, I THOUGHT THAT MAKING PERFUMES COULD BECOME A PART OF MY LIFE.
IF YOU HAD NOT BECOME A PERFUMER, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE LIKED TO BE / DO?
I THINK I WOULD BE A HOCKEY PLAYER OR PAINTER - BUT I AM PROBABLY BETTER AT HOCKEY. I LIKE TO BE DOING THINGS WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE CLOSE TO ME. I FOUNDED MATIERE PREMIERE WITH TWO FRIENDS, WITHOUT COMPROMISE. CÉDRIC MEIFFRET AND CAIUS VON KNORRING SHARE MY DAILY LIFE AS A DESIGNER.
HAS THE CURRENT SITUATION GIVEN YOU NEW IDEAS FOR PERFUMES? NEW INSPIRATIONS?