A Life in Perfumery
Early Life
Olivia Giacobetti was born on April 9, 1966, in Burgundy (Boulogne), France. Neither parent worked in the perfume industry.
Olivia’s father, Francis Giacobetti (born July 1, 1939), was a photographer and a director of French films. As a photographer, at eighteen, Francis was hired as an assistant by Maurice Tabard, who headed a photography studio producing fashion pages for designers such as Pierre Balmain, Elsa Schiaparelli and Madame Grès. As a director, Francis also served as director and screenwriter of Emmanuelle 2 (1975) and director of Emmanuelle 4 (1984).
Olivia’s mother also had no connection to the perfume industry, but wore Youth Dew (Estée Lauder, 1953, Josephine Catapano), which reportedly smelled of gingerbread. This was Olivia’s first memory of scent.
Dreaming of Becoming a Perfumer, and a Fateful Meeting
Interested in smells from childhood, Olivia pressed a nose against things everywhere like a little animal. The first perfume to become an obsession was Kiehl’s Musk, probably the 1963 creation, which Olivia’s father brought back from New York when Olivia was six. Olivia recalls later becoming fascinated by Féminité du Bois (1992, Serge Lutens, Pierre Bourdon).
Olivia’s interest in the perfume industry was sparked at nine by Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s film Le Sauvage (1975), released in Japan as Uzushio. Seeing Yves Montand play a perfumer in the film inspired Olivia to dream of entering the profession.
In 1982, at sixteen, Olivia met Annick Goutal (1946–1999) and was hired by Goutal. At the time, Goutal was creating a perfume dedicated to Goutal’s daughter Camille (born 1975): Eau de Camille (1983).
A year later, at seventeen, Olivia began training at Robertet through Goutal’s introduction.
Why Robertet? Probably because the mentor who awakened Goutal’s desire to explore scent was Robertet perfumer Henri Sorsana.
During seven years as an assistant, from 1983 to 1990, Olivia is said to have created the children’s perfume Petit Guerlain with Jean-Paul Guerlain at the age of 23. Another account holds that Jean-Paul conceived the idea for a children’s perfume in 1992 and that they composed it together then.
Single-Mindedly Following a Personal Path
After leaving Robertet, Olivia established a company called Iskia in 1990 at the age of 24. The company no longer exists. In 1993, Olivia released the first creation for L’Artisan, L’eau de Artisan, and continued composing for L’Artisan until 2007.
Two particularly important perfumes to know, along with their differences, are the world’s first fig fragrance, Premier Figuier (given as Primier Figuier, meaning “first fig tree” in English, 1994, L’Artisan), and Philosykos (1996, Diptyque), released two years later. These two perfumes greatly enhanced Olivia’s reputation and led to the next stage of the career.
For Premier Figuier, I received only a few words about the direction and was given almost complete creative freedom. I wanted to create the first fig eau de toilette, because the fig tree is a tree from my childhood memories.
Olivia Giacobetti
There is no natural fig essence. So I had to capture the scent of the entire tree: the warmth of sunlit bark, the greenness of the leaves, the milk dripping from the fruit, everything.
From the smell of its leaves to its ripe fruit and the sap emerging from its trunk, the fig remained a reminder of Olivia’s earliest Mediterranean memories, the taste of happiness. Olivia received a fig tree for the launch of Premier Figuier and planted another at home to mark the birth of a daughter, Louise, in 1996. Olivia reportedly eats the figs every year.
Incidentally, the fig scent is created using a synthetic fragrance material called Stemone, while the milky character of ripe figs is added by lactones. The proportion of these lactones seems to be higher in Premier Figuier Extrême.
Once, a child sat beside me in the garden and said, “You smell like sunshine.” I was wearing Premier Figuier at the time. The fact that Premier Figuier evoked an emotional association was the most wonderful compliment of all, more meaningful than its commercial success.
Olivia Giacobetti
Meanwhile, Diptyque’s Philosykos comes from memories of a stay in Greece by Diptyque founders Desmond and Yves Coueslant. Fig trees grew between the mountains and the sea, and they had to pass through them to reach the water. In the blazing heat, liquid dripped from the fruit, sap flowed, and scent rose from the leaves of the fig trees they passed. On returning from Greece, Desmond also brought a small gift for the other founder, Christiane. Inside were dried fig leaves. The moment the gift was opened, their scent filled the room.
Philosykos means “friend of the fig tree” in Greek. Evoking these two memories, Philosykos uses galbanum to focus on the greener side of fig, while a lower amount of Stemone than in Premier Figuier gives it transparency.
The Next Generation’s Haiku Perfumer
My goal is to find a simple form. Not an overly simple one, but a complex form that gives the illusion of simplicity.
Olivia Giacobetti
Now let us look chronologically at Olivia’s work from 2000 onward.
In 2000, Olivia released En Passant with Frédéric Malle.
In 2003, working with Shiseido, Olivia launched a personal line of perfumes, candles and body products called Inux. Together with Francis, Olivia created a large boutique at 48–50, rue de l’Université in Paris. Francis selected the objects displayed in its interior from a private collection.
The boutique closed two years later, but the products became available again in 2006 at a boutique inside Paris’s Hotel Costes. Remarkably, this was the very hotel for which Olivia had created a signature scent in 1995. There now appears to be a boutique at 13 rue de Tournon.
Inux is a completely free brand, without marketing constraints. Every perfume’s theme is based on Olivia’s personal stories. For example, TALC was inspired by experiences during a visit to Japan. However, there has been little recent activity, so the brand is very likely to have ended.
In 2008, together with Christian David, Olivia launched an Ecocert-certified perfume brand using 100% natural fragrance materials: Honoré des Prés. Its materials apparently come from Robertet.
In 2006, Ben Gorham founded Byredo, where Olivia helped create perfumes together with Jérôme Epinette. However, the only fragrance Olivia has actually been revealed to have composed is Flowerhead from 2014.
In 2017, Olivia collaborated with the Comédie-Française, France’s national theater company, to create a line of five candles.
In 2019, Olivia collaborated with creative director Fabien Baron at Nars to compose Audacious, a perfume marking the brand’s 25th anniversary.
By the Way…
I cannot create a perfume without using some kind of wood. Woods make everything more refined, give it structure and add mystery.
Olivia Giacobetti
• The palette is full of materials not commonly used: wheat, sawdust and carrot.
• Olivia is called a haiku perfumer alongside Jean-Claude Ellena.
• Olivia does not particularly like having a name in the spotlight and would rather work behind the scenes. For that reason, Olivia says the wish is to remain independent and free, rather than work exclusively for any one brand.
• Olivia wears only a little makeup, using Chanel foundation and either Kiehl’s lip balm or Elizabeth Arden balm.
• Favorite food: apricot tagine.
• Motto: Leonardo da Vinci’s words, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
• Favorite ingredients: all woods, because they smell primal.
• Three important films: Le Sauvage; Time of the Gypsies (1988), directed by Emir Kusturica; and The Piano (1993), directed by Jane Campion.
• Favorite work: that of sculptor Anish Kapoor and Tokujin Yoshioka, the designer of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch-relay torch who has collaborated with many brands, including Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Hermès.
