ILLUSTRATION, DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHY

Jacques Guerlain started the vogue for commissioning artists – Darcy, Charnotet, Sevreau – to produce advertising. Dior’s relationship with the illustrator René Gruau became part of the house DNA. Otto, Olivier Polge’s scent for a candle produced in tribute to Piero Fornasetti, is as sublime

as the artist’s designs.

FILM

Caron’s Narcisse Noir inspired Powell and Pressburger’s Black Narcissus; and Billy Wilder is said to have sprayed the sets of Sunset Boulevard with it. Recent campaigns still offer a veritable filmography: Baz Luhrmann and Joe Wright for Chanel; Rob Marshall for Lancôme Trésor; Anne Fontaine directing Cate Blanchett for Giorgio Armani Sì; and Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

for Prada Candy.

MUSIC & BALLET

The talented nose behind Jean PaulGaultier’s Le Male, Acqua Di Parma’s Iris Nobile, and his eponymous luxurious fragrance house, to name but a few, Francis Kurkdjian, has trained in ballet and is skilled at the piano in addition to creating breathtaking “olfactory installations”. In town to officiate the

opening of his exclusive fragrance boutique in Grand Hyatt Hotel recently, the multi-faceted Frenchman shares his

thoughts on fashion and scents.