Scents of Place: Maison Francis Kurkdjian Co-Founder Marc Chaya On Combining Creativity With Perfumery Artistry
Bazaar meets Marc Chaya, CEO and Co-Founder of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, to discover more about the emotive and transformative power of perfume
What’s in a name? For Maison Francis Kurkdjian CEO and Co-Founder Marc Chaya, a great deal. “At the Maison, creativity is at the heart of everything that we do,” he tells Bazaar during his recent trip to Doha. “It all starts with a creative idea that Francis [Kurkdjian] and I talk about until the idea of a name comes about. He cannot really start building a scent without a name, it’s like a canvas. It starts with the name, the inspiration, and the curiosity.”
It’s that focus on creativity that has seen the Maison pioneer new creative endeavours, including becoming a patron of the Château de Versailles, providing support for creation of the Perfumer’s Garden. Situated in the Châteauneuf Orangerie in the heart of the Trianon estate, the garden is home to hundreds of different plants used in perfume-making. “Our Maison believes in taking perfume outside of its bottle as a form of art,” says Marc. “Everything we do is creativity-driven and we’ve built a company in which the entire eco-system is at the service of creativity. That is very rare.”
Chaya’s love of creativity and the arts goes back to his youth. “I was born in Beirut in 1973 and the Civil War started in 1975 so I had to grow up in a world at war – it was a very scary environment. It showed me how atrocious mankind can be, how life can be chaotic, and how, by virtue of being born somewhere, you can be condemned to live through something really dark. I found refuge in arts, creativity and reading. I used to draw really well – it was escapism – and I consumed literature and found pleasure in music. I started to realise that there is a depth to beauty in the same way that there is a depth to ugliness.”
That experience finds its way into Chaya’s appreciation of perfume’s emotional resonance. “For me, a beautiful emotion, or ecstasy, toys a very fine line between pain, hardship, joy and reward. This is where value is, at the crossroad between two radically different things. Art is about expressing a form of genius that is rare. Not everyone that goes to art school becomes Francis Bacon or Picasso, not everyone that goes to Central St Martin’s becomes Alexander McQueen, and not everyone who studies the art of creating scents becomes Francis Kurkdjian. Creative genius has to be acknowledged and celebrated and given the opportunity to thrive and grow so that those individuals can bring that emotion.”
The Maison’s creations are testament to that emotional range, with its fragrances capturing different facets of a feeling or embodying a different character. “The fragrances each resonate. We refer to them as our fragrance wardrobe by which we mean the ability to use scents as an invisible garment that can complement your personality; that can empower you to become the best version of yourself. It is such a beautiful and fulfilling process because just as you choose your outfit you can also choose your scent. When Francis created Baccarat Rouge 540 and I smelled it for the first time, I felt as if I were listening to an extraordinary piece of music or hearing the profoundness of a voice or looking at an artistic masterpiece on canvas. This happened with the iconic Baccarat rouge, and it also happens to me every time Francis hands me a little vial. I am smelling it and I feel something very beautiful.”
The Maison’s latest launch, Aqua Media Cologne forte, part of the Maison’s Aqua Cologne forte collection, similarly evokes a tangible sense of emotion, transporting the wearer to a summery landscape defined by lightness and happiness. Capturing joyous abandon, the eau de parfum features tangy, sparkling and fresh notes that are full of life. It’s a fragrance that is already proving popular in the Middle East, where the Maison inspires both love and loyalty. “There has been an historic love of beauty and craftsmanship in the Middle East,” says Marc. “Wherever you see heritage and culture, you find people that embrace the Maison because the brand is talking to them about creativity and authenticity, not concept or celebrity, and I think people value that.”