Bertrand Duchaufour has a rich portfolio. It is just suffice to mention Fahrenheit Summer by Christian Dior, Tender Light by Escada or Amarige D’ Amour by Givenchy. But along with that, Bertrand has the unique reputation. He is known as an eccentric, stereotype breaker, poet, a courteous and impulsive person. An artist, in a word. He created a lot of fragrances for such niche brands as Penhaligon’s and L’Artisan Parfumeur. And now he cooperates closely with Faberlic.

Faberlic Journal: Monsieur Duchaufour, when I was preparing for our interview, I listened to your new Alternative fragrance. It is intended for men, but strange as it may seem, I would be happy to use it for myself …

Bertrand Duchaufour: There's nothing strange about that! Women tend to be more courageous and daring as compared with men, they break stereotypes, especially the ones related to fashion, beauty and charm. You are open for something new, but together with that, you always make the right choice.

Moreover, the division of fragrances in two groups (for men and women) is rather conventional. It is a mere tradition that in the 20th century the woody compositions came to be masculine, and the floral ones – feminine. Before that, men didn’t mind using lavender or rose water. Perception of a fragrance produces great influence upon our innermost ego identity that is sometimes not even realized to the full. On the other hand, the cultural impact is great. In the past the human society required the men’s and women’s worlds to be isolated and opposed to each other. But today we see that the boundaries between the two of them are not that clear. Women enjoy the heroism of victories and discoveries, and men are eager to experience the world of feelings.

Faberlic Journal: Do you view transgenderism as a global trend?

Bertrand Duchaufour: Yes, that’s true. And women were the first to break the gender boundaries.

Faberlic Journal: But Alternative is still a masculine fragrance, right?

Bertrand Duchaufour: The work of art has no gender.

Faberlic Journal: Work of art?

Bertrand Duchaufour: Exactly. That might sound a bit too bold, but with the Alternative fragrance, Faberlic and I have created an unusual, expensive and interesting scent with its own character.

Faberlic Journal: As far as I know, perfumers and their customers try to avoid any unusual scents, because there is always the risk that they are not understood by the general audience.

Bertrand Duchaufour: In this case we simply headed a new trend. The same was done earlier by Kenzo with the maritime L’Eau par Kenzo fragrance for men. The world will soon see the wave of popularity of woody fragrances. It will be longer and much stronger than the interest towards ozone perfumes back in the 1990s.

Faberlic Journal: Why are you so sure about that?

Bertrand Duchaufour: Woody accords are diverse. That’s why they are highly interesting for the professionals. The molecules of woody fragrances are associated with cleanness and natural freshness, but at the same time they create a much warmer, softer and friendlier olfactory experience as compared with ozone notes. They are characterized by the noble complexity, all the while staying self-intuitive and easy to understand, because all of us are the children of the nature.

Faberlic Journal: Russia is known as the country of the “birch cotton”, we have a lot of birch trees growing on our territory. Does this Russian symbol have any chance to become a popular perfumery ingredient?

Bertrand Duchaufour: In fact, birch has been already used for a long time in leather fragrances. The most prominent example is Cuir de Russie by Сhanel. It was created by Mademoiselle Coco in 1927 to commemorate her acquaintance with the Grand Prince Dmitry, the cousin of the Russian tsar Nicholas II. It is a feminine fragrance, but it has the accords of leather tanned with birchbark in accordance with the Russian military tradition.

Faberlic Journal: In other words, the scientists and perfumers are still mostly interested in exotic wood species – sandalwood, guaiac wood and others?

Bertrand Duchaufour: Why is that!? The good old pine-tree, for instance, is highly likely to join the membership of high perfumery ingredients. The perfumers are now working on that.

Faberlic Journal: Do you personally use the Alternative fragrance?

Bertrand Duchaufour: I'll tell you a secret – perfumers use the fragrances in very rare cases, because it may draw them away from work. But if I could afford such a luxury for myself, the Alternative would take an honorable place among my favorite fragrances.

Text: Nina Popova
“Faberlic Journal. Start”, winter 2016