Growing Up with a Great Father…
Pierre Bourdon was born in Paris on March 9, 1946, to parents who worked in the perfume industry.
Pierre’s father, René Bourdon, worked under Frédéric Malle’s grandfather, Serge Heftler-Louiche, and was director of perfume development at Parfums Christian Dior (in Japanese) during the 1960s and 1970s. René was therefore a colleague of Malle’s mother, who also worked at Dior, so Pierre and Malle knew of each other’s existence, although they had never actually met. René also coauthored L’Intimité du Parfum (“Intimacy with Perfume”), which has no Japanese translation, with Edmond Roudnitska (in Japanese).
When Roudnitska created Dior’s Eau Sauvage and went to show the work to René with Pierre Dinand, who has worked with perfumers on many perfume bottles, including YSL’s Opium, René was drawing an advertisement depicting “a man just out of the shower, with the hair on the shins visible.” Malle’s mother, Marie, happened upon the scene and exclaimed, “It ‘s a real savage man!” This gave rise to the name Eau Sauvage.
It was also René who encouraged Serge Lutens and gave Lutens an opportunity to revolutionize makeup at Dior in 1968, even though Lutens had never worked with color before.
The Legendary Perfumer’s Only Pupil
At first, Pierre had no intention of working in the perfume industry, studying political science at Sciences Po, the Paris Institute of Political Studies, the extremely famous school also attended by Christian Dior, with the aim of becoming a writer.
The turning point came at 25, on meeting Edmond Roudnitska, who worked with Pierre’s father. Taught by the great Roudnitska that “perfume is an art,” Pierre decided to become a perfumer. In 1971, Pierre joined Roure (in Japanese) and began studying under Roudnitska and Jean Carles (in Japanese), alongside Françoise Caron (in Japanese) and Edouard Fléchier. Roudnitska became Pierre’s mentor, and Pierre became Roudnitska’s only pupil.
Every Wednesday, I cycled to Roudnitska’s, and every Sunday, I ran there, so that Roudnitska could make corrections to what I had created.
Pierre Bourdon
Around the time Pierre joined Roure, sixteen-year-old Dominique Ropion (in Japanese) came to the company on an internship. Influenced by Pierre and by Ropion’s future mentor, Jean-Louis Sieuzac (in Japanese), the creator of YSL’s Opium, Ropion decided to pursue perfumery.
After studying at Roure for five years, Pierre returned to Paris and gained experience creating toiletry products, including shampoos, deodorants, soaps and body lotions.
Composing Masterpieces
After eleven years at Roure, Pierre spent nine years from 1982 as cofounder and chief perfumer of Takasago (in Japanese) Europe, with Michel Almairac (in Japanese) as a colleague! It was during this period that Pierre composed Davidoff (in Japanese)’s Cool Water (1988), a signature creation.
In the early 1990s, probably from 1991 to 1993, Pierre worked at Quest. In 1992, together with Christopher Sheldrake (in Japanese), who now creates perfumes for Serge Lutens and heads Chanel’s laboratory, Pierre created Féminité du Bois for Shiseido, and for Serge Lutens from 2000 onward. Maurice Roucel (in Japanese) was also at Quest at the time.
Pierre also served as a mentor when, in 1992 at Quest, Olivier Cresp (in Japanese) launched the fragrance described as the first-ever gourmand (in Japanese), Thierry Mugler’s Angel.
In 1993, Pierre became CEO of the Paris office of Fragrance Resources, a company Pierre had been involved with since its founding in 1991 and which has now been acquired by IFF (in Japanese). Here, Pierre composed Dior’s Dolce Vita (1994). Pierre also creates customized perfumes and fragrance lines for luxury hotels, aircraft and other clients through a company called Perfume id. For example, Pierre created a scent for Authentic Hotels, which has hotels around the world, including properties in Kaga and Kirishima in Japan where a night can cost more than ¥100,000.
In 1996, Pierre collaborated with Frédéric Malle on Mark Birley for Men, and the two met for the first time.
Because Pierre and Malle had grown up and studied in similar environments, they liked similar things and felt like family. Malle placed great trust in Pierre, making Pierre the first person to hear the idea of establishing a brand, and the person who created its first perfume.
Pierre announced retirement in 2007. Before retiring, Pierre took on Julien Rasquinet (Julien Rasquinet (in Japanese), at IFF) and Julie Masse (Julie Masse) as pupils and taught them perfumery.
Returning to the perfume industry in 2015, Pierre released five perfumes through the eponymous Pierre Bourdon brand.
By the Way…
• When Kilian completed the L’Œuvre Noire collection in 2011, an interviewer asked, “If you could work with a male perfumer, who would you want to work with?” Kilian answered, “Pierre Bourdon.” Angels’ Share, released in 2020, was composed by Pierre’s pupil, Benoist Lapouza (in Japanese).
• Françoise Caron is Pierre’s former wife.
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