Francis Kurkdjian (born 14 May 1969) is a French perfumer and businessman of Armenian descent. He is best known for creating the men's fragrance Le Male for Jean Paul Gaultier in 1995, which has become one of the world's best-selling perfumes.
Kurkdjian co-founded the fragrance house Maison Francis Kurkdjian with Lebanese-French businessman and former Ernst & Young partner Marc Chaya, which has become a niche brand in the fragrance industry. The brand was purchased by LVMH in 2017 for an undisclosed sum.[1] He was the winner of the Prix François Coty in 2001 for his lifetime achievement.
Early life
Francis Kurkdjian was born in Paris, France on 14 May 1969 to Armenian parents.[2][3][4] Having been exposed to music and dancing at a young age, Francis Kurkdjian wanted to be a ballet dancer during his youth.[5][2] However, he failed passing the competition to study at the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1983.[6] Kurkdjian, who already had an interest in perfume making since he was thirteen years old, decided in 1985 to become a perfumer.[5] In 1990, Kurkdjian entered the Institut Supérieur International du Parfum, de la Cosmétique et de l'Aromatique Alimentaire (ISIPCA), a perfume school located in Versailles, France.[6] He graduated from ISIPCA in 1993 and joined Quest International in Paris the same year. Kurkdjian continued his studies and obtained a master's degree from the Paris Institute of Luxury Marketing.[6]
Career
A bottle of the 2006 eau de parfum version of Narciso Rodriguez for Her
In 1995, at the age of twenty-six, Kurkdjian created Le Male for Jean Paul Gaultier, one of the world's best selling perfumes.[7][8] This became Kurkdjian's first success at perfume making.[8] He later created Narciso Rodriguez for Her with Christine Nagel (2003) and Burberry Her.[9]
Besides selling his scents to major fashion designers and houses in the beginning of his new career, Kurkdjian opened the pathways to a new vision, lending his talent to contemporary artists, re-creating Marie Antoinette’s favorite perfume for Palace of Versailles, going back in time to the early 17th century and the sources of perfumery.[7]
Kurkdjian has also created gigantic olfactory installations in emblematic spaces, making people dream with his ephemeral and spectacular perfumed performances and was honoured the "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres" by French Government in 2008.[7][10]
He was the first to open his bespoke fragrances atelier in 2001, going against the trend of perfume democratization.[6]
In 2006, Kurkdjian redeveloped the Papier d'Arménie for the year of Armenia in France.[11]
He co-founded his own fragrance house Maison Francis Kurkdjian with business partner Marc Chaya in 2009 near the Place Vendôme in Paris.[6][10]
In 2013, the crystal company Baccarat commissioned Kurkdjian to make a perfume for its two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary. Initially the perfume was a limited edition run of Baccarat crystal bottles, priced at three thousand Euros each. Released in fall 2014, Rouge 540 (named for the temperature at which Baccarat crystal is produced) quickly sold out but Kurkdjian gave a bottle as a gift to the vice-president of beauty at the department store Neiman Marcus, Kelly St. John, who received so many compliments on it that she suggested Kurkdjian produce it for sale at their stores.[9] Kurkdjian and Baccarat struck a deal allowing him to sell the synthetic gourmand fragrance in his signature square glass bottles, and it became one of the best-selling fragrances in the world, propelled by fragrance reviewers on TikTok.[9]
In March 2017, European luxury goods conglomerate LVMH purchased the Maison Francis Kurkdjian business for an undisclosed sum.[1]
Voir et être vu, Grand Palais Paris 2015/2016 - olfactive installation for the Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun exhibition
Milan world expo 2015, Stratus 2015 - olfactive installation for Pavillon Lille 3000
L'Art du Jardin, Grand Palais Paris, Flora Tournicota, 2013
Chateau de Versailles, Sillage De La Reine - Re-creation of the scent of Queen Marie Antoinette, 2006
Olfactive installations in the gardens of Versailles: Bosquet de l'orangerie, 2006 - PréamBulles, Bosquet des 3 fontaines, Bosquet de la Rocaille, 2007 and 2008
Grand Palais, NoctamBulles: olfactive installation during the 2010 Paris great museum evening
Shanghai expo 2010: Olfactive installation at the French Pavilion
La Luce Degli Innocenti: Olfactive installation, Florence 2011
Sophie Calle: The smell of Money, 2003
Paris Garnier Opera: Pas de deux, eau de parfum, 2004
