Translated by Bethszabee Garner
An alchemist of emotions, he composes perfumes as others write poems. Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud has been exploring the human soul through scent for decades. He opens the doors to his world, made up of memories, rare materials, and light.
Sirine Erramach: What scent instantly takes you back to your childhood?
Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud: The smell of roses, because my mother used to apply it to me every morning when I was a child. Rose water is perfect for opening your eyes when they're a little sticky and giving your complexion an instant boost of freshness. Back then, we didn't shower in the morning, only in the evening. Before I left for school and had breakfast, my mother would rub rose water on my face. Smelling that scent all year round was truly wonderful!
Sirine Erramach: What was the first perfume you wore?
J.C.B.: Eau Sauvage by Dior.
Sirine Erramach: What scent can't you live without?
J.C.B.: The smell of my garden. It reminds me of life, beauty, and the miracle of nature. And gardens always smell good, summer and winter alike!
Sirine Erramach: What scent inspires calm and serenity in you?
J.C.B.: Orange blossom, which I love because it reminds me of my childhood and my mother, who often used it. I have often used orange blossom absolute and neroli in my creations, in Sun Song, for example.
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Sirine Erramach: What scent takes you on a journey?
J.C.B.: Agarwood.
Sirine Erramach: The scent of love?
J.C.B.: Vanilla.
Sirine Erramach: The most unlikely scent you would like to put in a bottle?
J.C.B.: The smell of my memories.
Sirine Erramach: A scent that defines who you are today?
J.C.B.: Ginger, zesty and spicy!
Sirine Erramach: The fragrance you always wear?
J.C.B.: Imagination, a fragrance that took me five years to create! It is intended to be a definition of the perfumery of tomorrow, with notes of amber and tea, combining opposites, freshness and power. I put it in the men's collection, but in reality 50% of women buy it. I wanted to make it so badly, I never imagined it would be such a success. I gave Imagination to lots of friends, and I enjoy smelling it on myself as much as on others. When I'm in Shanghai and I bump into someone wearing it, I love it!
Sirine Erramach: What scent do you hate the most?
J.C.B.: The smell of sweat on the subway.
Sirine Erramach: What was your last olfactory emotion?
J.C.B.: I rediscovered a passion for osmanthus, a flower with peach and apricot scents. I had already used it in the first Louis Vuitton fragrances, such as Rose des Vents and Mille Feux. Osmanthus was one of the first ingredients I discovered at the age of 14 in my father's laboratory, and its name made me dream! Since then, I have had the chance to witness its harvest several times in China, a harvest that lasts only 15 days to produce teas and cakes. This flower belongs to the same family as jasmine and olive trees, and two centuries ago it was called the Chinese olive tree. At Les Fontaines Parfumées, during flowering season, visitors often stop in the alley where it grows to enjoy its fruity fragrance.
Sirine Erramach: What is the starting point for your creations?
J.C.B.: Creativity is a form of curiosity about people, landscapes, cultures, cuisine, anything that evokes emotions. I have periods when I put into practice what I have felt, periods of varying lengths when I express these ideas, without any concept behind them, except olfactory concepts based on my travels and my home.
Sirine Erramach: How does it feel to smell your creations on other people?
J.C.B.: The other day in Los Angeles, at the top of Rodeo Drive, I smelled Ombre Nomade and went to ask the person what they were wearing! It makes you feel like a child. I don't say it's my creation anymore, but it touches me that people like my work. That's why I do it! Perfume is the most intimate connection with oneself. I create perfumes to be experienced and shared with others. We are led to believe that it is a commodity, a simple accessory, but it is much more than that. It is more important than a dress or a pair of shoes. It is a connection with oneself and with others. I don't know of anything else that can be used in this way.
Sirine Erramach: Last June, you unveiled your latest creation for Louis Vuitton, created in collaboration with Pharrell Williams. How did you manage to combine your two artistic visions?
J.C.B.: It's a six-handed creation, the result of a collaboration between Pharrell, my daughter Camille, who works alongside me as a young perfumer, and myself. I was responsible for the artistic direction, my daughter composed the music and had the idea of using forgotten essences such as galbanum. It's an unbridled and authentic collaboration, energized by Camille's youth. The experience has been new in every way, with a lot of fun, fluidity, and positive energy. Having collaborated with many designers and artists such as Frank Gehry, I've always appreciated this creative joy. I like to convey this notion of simplicity in perfumes, even if it is complicated to achieve.
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Sirine Erramach: You chose light as the central theme for this fragrance. If you had to give it a scent, what would it be?
J.C.B.: Translating light into fragrance means expressing it through fluidity and transparency, like a laser beam in the night. It's what highlights everything around it. It's so obvious that you don't notice it. In perfumes, it is expressed through woody base notes, citrus, bergamot, sophisticated molecules that smell like mountain spring water, or salty notes from the sea, which highlight key elements such as cedar. LVERS is composed of galbanum, sandalwood, bergamot, cedar, and ginger. Galbanum is a key ingredient, a green note that creates the fresh and spicy heart of the bouquet. Next, sandalwood adds a warm, creamy touch, while bergamot brings a light, fruity, zesty spark. Cedar, in the base notes, lends a woody, sensual strength, evoking the scent of a forest. Finally, ginger brings brightness and energy to the fragrance. The blend of these ingredients creates a ray of sunshine distilled in a bottle.
Sirine Erramach: How would you describe the olfactory experience of this fragrance?
J.C.B.: It's a fragrance that leaves no one indifferent. But above all, what matters is the social message it conveys: love for people, diversity, differences—all of these things should unite us rather than divide us.
Article written by Sirine Erramach to be found in issue n°8 of OniriQ Magazine.
