Francis Kurkjian. “One should do things only with kindness, lightness and great joy.”

Madame Figaro: So happy ?
Francis Kurkdjian. More than ever. I have the best job in the world. But after the initial excitement and jitters, I realize what a burden is placed on me. Yes, there are heavy things to manage, but when I signed the contract, I knew it was going to be a lot of work. Kindness means not making others carry my stress.

What did you start with? ?
It’s not just creativity. The whole part is there supply of sources raw materials and the continuation of the eco-responsible approach started before I arrived. It is a long process. Today, all of our grass land is organic. I also started talking to everyone. I had lunch at La Colle Noire with all the living perfumers who worked at Dior and met all the artistic directors of the house. Some have been there for a very long time and know several creators. It is interesting to know what is actually in Dior’s DNA, what will remain and what is missing. I learned a lot from our discussions.

You will take advantage of new raw materials and forget about others ?
A new perfume manufacturer necessarily also means a change of palette, an evolution of style. A bit like a seam. Christian Dior and subsequent artistic directors, Marc Bohan, John Galliano, all had their favorite fabrics, their favorite colors… Some people like sequins, others don’t. Gianfranco Ferre had a weakness for clothes. Maria Grazia Chiuri favors cleaner lines. The perfumer is the same. We can have endless debates about the quality of sandalwood or tangerine. Some prefer it green, slightly metallic. Not me. I love the fruity jasmine, less floral and indole. All these small variations mean that you have to find the right supplier, sometimes to order things. My predecessor Francois Demachy has a deep love for natural things, so I am lucky to have an impressive palette of ingredients. I may have a more radical approach with a narrower selection. My form of formulation is also different. I’m a bit more “stuck”. Then I do everything as the projects come. For L’Or de J’Adore I started with a palette of flowers. I will review something else in the coming months. The goal is not to change everything. The perfume lasts a long time.

You also have your own brand, Maison Francis Kurkdjian. How to reconcile your style and Dior DNA ?
You know, I’ve been freelancing and multi-tasking for so long. Switching from one register to another is part of the job. Like an actor who changes roles and costumes. When I arrived, I redesigned my wording sheet and Dior image keys. I wanted work tools that made me think. “I’m in Dior.” I use over 30 a day or 500 a week. They have to be perfect. My Dior touch is a bit longer than others. As a result, the gestures also change. It is a bit like a performance, a decor. The small bottles are also a bit different, round and not square, as Dior is round to me.

I am not forced to do anything. I have this extreme freedom

Francis Kurkjian, creative director of Dior perfume

Reworking J’Adore, it’s a necessary step, gloom ?
I am not forced to do anything. I have this extreme freedom. I just follow the house mantra. “Respect tradition, dare to be cheeky.” I loved this house long before I was a perfumer because my aunt Jeanne worked there in the workshop on the hill. When I was a child, Christian Dior was like a very kind distant uncle to me. In 1985 I was chasing women who wore Poison to smell better. In my unconscious, Dior is the perfume of the Champs-Élysées, the rue Jean Goujon, the Avenue Montaigne. And J’Adore embodies the olfactory profile of the brand. It is an extraordinary formula that is perfectly formulated. And I also have a personal history with this perfume, a very special attachment.

I have a personal history with J’Adore by Dior, a very special attachment

Francis Kurkjian, creative director of Dior perfume

You tell us ?
As a very young perfumer, I was in Calis Becker’s “skirt” when he created J’Adore in 1999. I was 25 and had just done Jean-Paul Gaultier’s Le Mâle. We both ended up in New York and both miserable as rocks. With Calice, we had to adopt the American work rhythm. Arrival at the office at 8am, departure at 5pm, lunch in 25 minutes from the delivery box in the corner of the office. Not a drop of alcohol. In Paris, lunches between brands and perfumers lasted for three hours. Besides, we spoke very bad English. We did lessons together. We were the two Frenchmen who were waiting with machine guns, very isolated. It creates connections. We have helped each other a lot. So I saw Callis working on J’Adore. She needed a Dior shawl for the project presentation. I accompanied her to the store and since we didn’t have much money at the time, we brought it back the next day to make up for it. We also ordered the lilac in mid-December because Calis needed to smell it. When J’Adore came out, everyone trashed it. He was criticized for being an international note. The name was also disturbing. Then, when I was a freelance perfumer, I attended an incredible number of briefs where we were asked to make J’Adore bis. However, it is an extremely complex formula consisting of more than 90 lines. Not so easy to copy. Its specialty is its prevalence and the quality of its ingredients.

That’s more frightening, isn’t it? ?
It’s just a new offer. You have to start, not think. When Maria Grazia touches a suit a few times a year, it’s much worse. You just need to do something with kindness, lightness and great joy. J’Adore, it’s a story of flowers. Monsieur Dior knew the Vilmorin seed catalog by heart. There is a floral obsession at home, interpreted in different ways. For Francis Kurkjian’s Maison, I don’t claim to love flowers, but I did grow them on my terrace in detention. I saw them grow and really got into the game.

You just need to do something with kindness, lightness and great joy.

Francis Kurkjian, creative director of Dior perfume

What did you change? ?
To obtain pure 24-karat gold in jewelry, it is heated to evaporate impurities. My idea was to give the J’Adore formula the same treatment. keeping all the facets: jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang, tuberose, lily-of-the-valley, orange blossom, but evaporating everything that isn’t needed, enhancing their nuances. and exalting their colors. I zoomed in on the resolution like a camera and pixelated it. At first glance, I’d say floral Damien Hirst, a heated flower ball. This gives more roundness, velvety, velvety, fleshy, not greedy at all. The amphora bottle is also harder, rounder, decorated for the occasion with a gold hammer necklace that seems to flow along the glass… Right up to the neck. We also changed the name. It used to be J’Adore L’Or, but L’Or de J’Adore is a whole different story. Which is rose gold? That gold chain, a gift from my grandmother, and a holdover from forced immigration that never left me. And also a gold bracelet, which my mother gave me for my 18th birthday.

Dior J’Adore L’Or Eau de Parfum, €166 for a 50ml bottle.