Jacques Cavalier-Belletrude. “Every perfumer dreams of creating a cult perfume”

He has just recovered from his second Covid and has just signed hundreds of autographs for the world’s press, but the maestro nose is still ready to talk about his latest creation – an olfactory journey to the land of flowers, plants, seeds, roots. , leaves and fruits. This is his character: simple, generous and passionate. With the added bonus of baby sunny chic from Grasse. Written in collaboration with journalist Lionel Pyles and illustrated by designer Aurore de la Morinerie and photographer Sébastien Zanella, Jacques Cavallier-Belletrude lets us experience the world and makes us discover the secret treasures of perfumery.

A tribute to know-how

“I wanted to write about our profession for a long time,” he admits, “and I wanted to start with the raw materials without which perfumes would not exist.” Besides, I studied geography with them. I wanted to celebrate both nature and people. Too often we forget that these ingredients are rare, not offered, but cultivated, harvested, distilled, extracted, refined, reconstituted, sublimated. A tribute to almost five centuries of Grasse know-how. I also wanted to show that the history of this natural raw material follows the history of our civilizations. If we take the example of Peruvian balsam, the Mayans used it 4000 years ago. Thus, an invisible connection with the past is created. »

I learned geography with raw materials

Jacques Cavalier-Belletrude

Even perfume pillars, the most used and most popular ingredients, still manage to surprise. Who knew that bergamot comes from the hybridization of bitter orange and lemon? Doesn’t that lavender only bloom in Provence? We reveal what the famous Assam Oud really is, which many claim contains juice due to its value and rarity. “The olfactory richness of real oud is at least as rich as its cultural richness,” emphasizes Jacques Cavallier-Belletrude, who took the opportunity to note that Louis Vuitton perfumes is the world’s leading buyer of the magic oil. “While writing this work, I learned that it was once a commodity as precious as gold, that in the inheritances of the great lords of Iraq or Jordan, it was passed down to children in the same way as salt stocks and jewelry.”

Even the rose we think we know everything about still manages to charm her. “My secret passion, not really a secret anymore, is the centifolia rose or Grass rose,” continues our expert. It is the expression of absolute eternity. Jasmine is gorgeous, but it only goes in one direction: olfactory, floral, spicy, animal shocker. The rose, all with distinction and elegance, exudes incredible power with fresh, spicy, tea, fruity, metallic facets… Very complex as a feminine figure, it does not reveal all its mysteries, and that’s for the better. We’ve only detected 600 or 700 molecules of his scent, and there are probably between 1,200 and 1,500 of them. It brings the essential elements of perfumery that make it possible to create an extraordinary perfume.

Smell

This great “scented volatile man”, for whom “every perfume is an act of love”, confesses a new passion: osmanthus, a flower that smells of peaches and apricots. A resurgent passion as he has already used it in Louis Vuitton’s first perfumes, Rose des Vents, Mille Feux and Dancing Blossom. “It was one of the first materials I saw in my father’s laboratory. I must have been 14 years old. I remember very well the handwritten label “Absolu Osmanthus de Chine”. This name made me dream. At the time, China still seemed like an unreachable world. Since then, I have had the opportunity to attend the gathering several times. Osmanthus is collected to make dried flowers for tinctures or cakes, which are very popular in China. It is from the same family as jasmine and olive. Moreover, it was called the Chinese olive tree, and its flowers grow like olives. It is the only flower that we put in salt water, in salt water.’ He of course develops them at Fontanes Parfumées, his creative den in Grasse. “When it blooms in October, visitors always stop at Osmanthus Avenue, they are so enchanted by their fragrance.”

Of course, he has a sense of smell, but when asked which smell has disappointed him, he is categorical. “No one. There are no bad ones, there are only bad perfumers. But some are hard to tame, to tame, like patchouli. I usually say he’s an olfactory tiger. We don’t know who’s the boss. And then, certain notes don’t fit anymore.” zeitgeist, like galbanum, which doesn’t fare well in consumer tests. But I think it’s coming back soon. In the 90s, I also participated in the eclipse of patchouli in Issey Miyaké’s Eau d’Issey. Considered too dark, he disappeared for a decade before making a grand return to Chanel with Coco Mademoiselle. What next eclipse does he predict? “Nutritional notes: We’ve had enough. Every excess calls for its opposite.

From Apprenticeships to Luxury Homes in Gras

With this book, the star perfumer believes that he has not said everything, far from it. “I would like to share my experience, to say that nothing is certain, but nothing is impossible. As an apprentice perfumer at Grasse, I never imagined working for one of the most prestigious luxury houses in the world. I would like to write about the method of creativity, because creativity requires method and rigor. I see many young people who do not have the right foundations. Training is quite weak; the fault of the times. Communication used to be 5% of the job. And today – 50%. To the detriment of the essential. Above all, you must not misunderstand your purpose. The goal is to make the most beautiful perfumes in the world, not to appear on TV. We should not forget that recognition is only a consequence of work.”

An apprentice perfumer in Grasse, I never imagined working for one of the most prestigious luxury houses in the world.

Jacques Cavalier-Belletrude

Like any perfumer, he dreams of creating a universal success that will stand the test of time. “We can’t create if we don’t have an ego, but no matter how hard we look for the recipe, we’ll never find it. This is a wonderful coincidence of our professions. Why has one perfume become a cult and another, just as good, forgotten? A mystery. Nobody can predict anything. I’ve worked with the greatest developers, the greatest presidents… I’ve always seen this uncertainty and this anxiety in them before launch.

E:failures and successes

However, it’s hard to forget that Jacques Cavalier-Belletrud already left his mark on perfumery history, most notably with Issey Miyake’s signature Eau d’Issey in 1992. That he has signed, among others, Le Classique by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Midnight Poison by Dior and over twenty juices for Louis Vuitton. “In our professions, we experience more failures than successes. I have experienced both. Hard to swallow, but easy to understand in hindsight. My biggest disappointment is the Feu d’Issey, which didn’t work but had some impact. I loved Issey Miyake. He had great confidence in me, hence my disappointment. In 1998, we launched this perfume at the Museum of Decorative Arts on the evening of the France-Croatia football final, and he was so Francophile that he wore a blue-white-red bow tie.”

At Louis Vuitton, the Imagination perfume works fantastically well. “It took me five years to create. I classified it as men’s and that’s what I wear, but today 50% of women buy it for themselves. I’ve given it to many friends and I enjoy the smell as much on them as on me.” She admits that her “big favorite” is spotting Louis Vuitton perfume on the street. “I know all my perfumes and other people’s perfumes, at least the titles. I was in Los Angeles the other day and smelled Ombre Nomade up Rodeo Drive. It’s a child’s joy to see someone like their work.”

At 62, this bon vivant says he has no nostalgia for the past, other than his attachment to people. Having fun quoting this sentence. “In every old man there’s a young man who wonders what happened.” He confirms his passion intact and is already thinking about 2026 or 2027. “The important thing is creative eternity, to work until the end, if I am physically capable of it. Three days before he died at the age of 87, my father gave my brother a lesson in local neroli.

We are entering the age of women

Jacques Cavalier-Belletrude

Today, his daughter, Camille, has worked with him for seven years. “He has as much personality as I do, so it’s a balanced relationship.” And he really thinks that a woman does not create like a man. “Obviously not. Women don’t see the world the way we do. We are entering the age of women. I expect a lot from them to create.”

Perfume Atlas, Louis Vuitton is presented under three different covers to choose from (lemon, jasmine or rose) and is available in English and French. A luxurious limited edition is offered at 45 vials containing the finest raw extracts. On sale from April 2 in all Louis Vuitton stores, €160 and €5,000 for the exclusive edition.