ParfumPlus Arabia

WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST MEMORY OF A FRAGRANCE? My great uncle was manufacturing perfumes in Grasse. And I spent my holidays in Grasse as a child. At that time, maybe I didn’t realise how important this experience was and how I would carry this experience with me all my life. As a 5 year old I had the opportunity to be part of the process where we cut Jasmine to create fragrances. I’ve lived in an area that was in those days a factory for fragrance. I may be an architect but these experiences helped me see life beyond just architecture and my concept of life expanded with such experiences. WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND ‘OR NOIR’, YOUR FIRST PERFUME THAT WAS LAUNCHED IN 1980? Or Noir is packaged in a round shape and it’s a sexual symbol of a woman and Or Black is a rectangular shape and is symbolic of the man. All my creations are about love. So these two perfumes were for me a symbol of love. WHAT IS YOUR MOST CHERISHED PERFUME OF ALL TIME? COULD YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT IT? I tried to recreate the fragrance of my childhood. But I didn’t succeed. But the results were interesting. And I ended up creating 2 beautiful love stories Or Noir and Or Black. I also have a special place in my heart for my 6th creation Nagada. I released the bottle which was a 6000 year old design recreated by me using all my architectural knowledge. The design is inspired by a bottle from the Egyptian period of Nagada around 6000 years ago. HAVING A CAREER IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY, WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE A FRAGRANCE TOO? I would say that as an artist one tries one’s best to do what the five primary senses allow you to feel and express. So creating a fragrance was my need to explore and create something with my sense of smell. I knew I could do something great and I think with Or Noir, Or Black and Nagada I was able to satisfy the artist within me. FROM DESIGNING LUXURY GOODS TO BEING AN ARCHITECT, WHAT DO YOU PREFER? I’d like to believe that everything I do is from the perspective of an architect. That’s something that comes naturally to me and I use that instinct and talent to satisfy my creations that require other senses and faculties. So yes, I love creating and it doesn’t matter what medium or what mode it is. If I can see ‘love’ in something I want to create it. If it’s a stone and I see love in it, I’ll sculpt. If it’s a smell that arouses me, I’ll try to explore the love in a fragrance. But all the time I am doing this, the underlying factor that guides me is always my sense of architecture. P A R F U M P L U S 8