The collection of Frédéric Mull’s fragrances has been enlarged with edition number 17, designed by perfumer Maurice Rousel. Now fragrances can speak and are capable of feelings.
What are your most vivid “aromatic” memories?
Maurice Russell: The smell of the freshness of the Normandy beaches, where I ran barefoot as a boy. The mouthwatering smell of fried potatoes prepared in the street cafes of my hometown Cherbourg and the creamy caramel aroma of my son’s baby skin.
What scent can be safely called “sensual”?
The one that gives rise to positive feelings in you and those around you. I do not differentiate scents by gender. You either like it or not, there are no other reasons for choosing. And yet, a sensual scent should always be comfortable.
Frederic Mull calls you a monster of sensual scents. What do you think of it?
(Laughs.) Yes? I did not know. But his behavior, when we finished work on the Dans Tes Bras fragrance, seemed somewhat strange to me (in order to penetrate the phenomenal abilities of Maurice Rousel, Monsieur Malle asked a radiologist he knew to take a picture of his brain). My portfolio is really dominated by sensual scents. They seem to be the best for me.
John Singer Sargent, Paul Helleuw and His Wife Drawing, 1889
Continue the phrase: “To create Dans Tes Bras was like …”
… play the best part on the piano in four hands. I can’t stand being alone. Even when I make perfume, I need company. It is an incredible feeling when, in the process of work, you think in the same way with a person and understand him perfectly. Probably, this is how, in complete harmony, masterpieces are born.
What are your associations with the Dans Tes Bras scent in the cinema?
Actor – Sean Connery or Paul Newman, actress – Scarlett Johansson or Romy Schneider. The film is a drama “The Old Gun” with Philippe Noiret, revealing all feelings to the limit. Perhaps so.
Who comes up with names for fragrances and for how long?
Anyone but a perfumer. Our versions are usually naive and commercially unprofitable. For example, for some reason I wanted to call the fragrance Dans Tes Bras (“In your arms”) “Muscat” (a play on words on the theme of musk), but Frederic corrected everything. If I can create compositions of emotions, then it doesn’t cost him anything to make the fragrance speak.
It was possible to teach the Dans Tes Bras scent to feel and think with the help of a special component – cashmeran.
Are there any smells you don’t like?
Believe it or not, I don’t really like musk and the smell of white flowers. But I learned to abstract and dose the irritating factor. For example, the tourist noise can turn my beloved Place Concorde in Paris into an object of fierce hatred. But from this I will not stop loving her. Or imagine an alphabet and a musical octave. You may not like a certain letter or note, but you cannot do without them.
What will happen to fragrances in the future?
There can be two outcomes: a stunning but short-lived success and a lifelong classic. Every year, about 400 fragrances are offered to the consumer for judgment, of which, ultimately, only two or three names will survive.
Today, perfumery has a lot in common with music: there are top ten, representatives of which can light up from one day to several months. And if today everyone revels in rap, you probably shouldn’t enter the market for jazz fragrances. But no one is immune from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, whose age-old success will not overshadow even the hottest hit of our days.
Both hits and classics have a right to exist. The only thing I’m most afraid of is if, in the distant future, highbrow marketers and commercial geniuses come up with one perfect scent that is universal for everyone. This will be a real disaster!