Behind every creative genius is a person who makes them profitable. We talk to Marc Chaya, CEO and co-founder of Maison Francis Kurkdjian about the way business and creation mingle in perfumery

Maison Francis Kurkdijan is a Parisian fragrance brand founded by its eponymous perfumer and Marc Chaya, who creates fragrances with the philosophy of craft and luxury in mind. Their standout quality is a dedication to celebrating the perfumer&#39;s sensitive yet precise art in an industry of mainstream mediocrity.

What is your earliest memory of perfume? 
I think it&rsquo;s my parents&rsquo; beach house in the Mediterranean in Lebanon with natural aromas like jasmine, orange blossom and the scent of the sea. When I smell jasmine, lavender and pine trees I think of my childhood. I think smell always follows you, whether good or bad. It&rsquo;s the only sense that has a direct link to memory.

What perfume you were wearing when you first met Francis? 
I was wearing Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male and I was in love with Eau Noire from Dior and I had in my collection also Armani Mania (editor&rsquo;s note: all Francis Kurkdjian creations). I first met him at a dinner party and I asked him what he did and he said &ldquo;I&#39;m a perfumer&rdquo;&hellip; and I didn&#39;t know what a perfumer was!

LOfficiel Singapore MFK-Marc Chaya, CEO.jpg

Was it his talent that captivated you? 
Absolutely. I was completely seduced and astonished by the man. He&#39;s very smart, very sharp, very gentle and profoundly creative. I could feel that his talent was really beyond this world. I said, &ldquo;I don&#39;t even know who you are and maybe 300 million people are wearing your work without even knowing it&rdquo;. That was the situation 10 years ago. Today his name is well-exposed and luxury fashion houses talk about the perfumer now.

The brand was one of the first in a long time to carry a perfumer&rsquo;s name. 
Marketing people in the fragrance industry somehow decided it was a lot to talk about the fashion house&rsquo;s and the perfumers&rsquo; name. They decided to keep the perfumer hidden and that&rsquo;s led to a lot of misunderstanding. We&rsquo;re actually still the only fragrance house to carry the name of a celebrated perfumer in the 21st century.

I&#39;ve heard that the fragrance industry is very hierarchical and that you have to respect the creations that came before you.

Francis did not do that!

Yes, you were both&nbsp;relatively young disruptors to the industry. 
We play within the rules, but disrupted the marketing by saying that creating a fragrance is an art and talent.&nbsp;Even Jean-Claude&nbsp;benefited from that because when we started Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Herm&egrave;s would not talk about monsieur Ellena. Maybe to the press, but customers didn&#39;t know who he was.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s dangerous when industries think they cannot change. Think of hotels and taxis, and Uber and Airbnb coming out and taking them on.&nbsp;

What is the relationship between you and Francis like? 
Francis always says &ldquo;Marc Chaya is my Pierre Berg&eacute;&rdquo; and he always refers to Domenico De Sole and Tom Ford. I think it&rsquo;s the balance between what both of us bring to the table. If I said amen to every wish Francis had we would be bankrupt. And if Francis had to say amen to every business wish I had we would also be bankrupt because we would kill the creativity and be overly commercial. Our working relationship is&nbsp;almost like a marriage. Our children are the perfumes.

How often do you and Francis have children? 
Twice a year.

That&rsquo;s unusual for today&rsquo;s industry. 
We&rsquo;re in a market that requires newness all the time. Personally, I don&#39;t like it. That&rsquo;s why we try to limit our launches to twice a year so we have an opportunity to come up with something new.

Aqua Celestia eau de toilette (from $235 for 70ml), the newest release by&nbsp;Maison Francis Kurkdjian, is available at <a href="https://www.escentials.com" target="_blank">escentials</a>.

This article first appeared in the February 2017 issue of L&#39;Officiel Singapore (available&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.magzter.com/SG/HEART_MEDIA_PTE_LTD/L'OFFICIEL_Singapore/Fashion/" target="_blank">Magzter</a>).&nbsp;Click here to <a href="https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/subscriptions" target="_blank">subscribe</a>.

Making Sense of Scents

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