Earlier this year we opened up our blog to our wonderful community to ask any questions of Marc-Antoine Corticchiato, founder and perfumer of Parfum d’Empire, and we are pleased to announce that we are now ready to publish the answers. This AMA was inspired by Parfum d’Empire’s twentieth anniversary, and the answers now stand to celebrate Marc’s most elegant release to date in Ruade, and the arrival of Parfum d’Empire’s new stunning candles. We sincerely thank Marc-Antoine for this special opportunity, and for these thoughtful responses you are all sure to enjoy. We also thank you all for your submissions!
Though his family hails from Corsica, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato was born in Morocco. He grew up between his parents’ citrus groves near the ancient city of Azemmour and his family home in the village of Cuttoli Corticchiato, deep in the Corsican maquis.
A horseman since the age of eight, Marc-Antoine was a competition rider and considered becoming an equestrian professional, but his drive to understand the mysteries of scent production in aromatic plants, and why this scent varies over their life cycle, led him to study chemistry instead. For his Ph.D., he developed a new technique to analyze extracts of aromatic plants through carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance. He completed his training at the renowned École Internationale de Parfumerie de Versailles (ISIPCA).
Marc-Antoine went on to work in a research laboratory focused on the analysis of aromatic plants and extraction methods. For years he “dissected” natural raw materials and acquired in-depth knowledge of them. His work was published in international scientific reviews.
After starting out with aromatherapeutic blends, he joined a Parisian perfume laboratory. He also teaches at ISIPCA, the Versailles school of perfumery. In his quest for the best possible natural plant extracts, he has set up a production unit for essential oils in Madagascar.
Parfum d’Empire, founded in 2003, has given him the opportunity of truly expressing his fearless, physical, baroque style. His in-depth knowledge of natural raw materials allows him to unleash their full power. He was awarded the Fragrance Foundation's Prix des Experts two years in a row—in 2015 for Parfum d'Empire's Corsica Furiosa and in 2016 for Parfum d'Empire's Tabac Tabou.
Please find below your questions and Marc-Antoine’s answers:
Q: I love your work. Aziyade is in my top 5 perfumes, along with Ambre Russe. Have you considered using Oud in a perfume?
A: This question comes just at the right time, as I've finally decided to release a fragrance based on oud. I discovered this raw material about thirty years ago and it immediately inspired me to write a story about the equestrian world, which I know well. I love the animality of oud, its texture, its brightness. In the end, it's exactly these facets that other brands erase when they make claims about oud. So my Ruade creation had its place!
Q: What does the advancement of aroma chemicals hold for the future of perfume in your opinion?
A: I'm not the perfumer best placed to talk about innovations and research into synthetic ingredients. I know that there are some very advanced developments, in particular with a view to ever cleaner production and ever less environmental impact. But I'm more familiar with advances in natural ingredients. Here too, there is a growing concern for the environment. We're looking for ever more beautiful, ever finer qualities, but also ones that don't use petrochemical solvents, for example. We are also working more and more with 'waste', upcycling the by-products of traditional raw material processing. Some of these are very interesting from an olfactory point of view.
Q: Some ideas stand out when I read about you and your work: excess, indulgence, intensity, challenge. I connect these to this wonderful thing you are quoted as saying in the Essencional article, "I don't like scent politeness, without love or hate." I would love to hear you elaborate on your ideas around private versus public fragrance, and how you react to public fragrance when it pleases you, or when you find it irritating or unpleasant.
A: Most mainstream fragrances are tested by consumer panels over and over. Since the general public likes what it already knows, and the perfume industry doesn't want to cut itself off from any potential consumers, it ends up producing the same kind of accords. Perfumers' ideas are diluted into a mass of notes that can be smelled everywhere. Unfortunately, niche perfumery is increasingly tending to follow the same path. Admittedly, there aren't as many consumer tests, but many brands present copies of successes or repeat the same old 'niche' accords. To take Ruade as an example, when I saw that all the brands were launching their own ouds ten or so years ago, I didn't want to launch my own. In the end, Ruade is so different in its intention, in its main accord, that it has nothing in common with the other ouds on the market. There's no woody amber notes, synthetic sandalwood, saffron or rose like everywhere else. The essence of natural oud took me back to the world of stables, and that's the precise story I wanted to tell here. The result won't please everyone: the smell is animalic, there aren't the molecules that will stick to your skin, and the accord doesn't smell like any other perfume. But for me, niche perfumeries must continue to take these risks, to dare, because that's why people come to independent perfumeries like Fumerie in the first place. Not to be disappointed, as they may have been by a very uniform perfumery. To love or hate.
Q: I personally own 50ml bottles of every fragrance you offer. Every fragrance from your house is bottle-worthy, in my opinion. The reason for this is twofold. Each fragrance is very well crafted, while at the same time totally unique and unlike any other fragrance on the market. My question is, how do you achieve this uniqueness in your fragrances? Do you use unusual or rare ingredients? Is there some other reason, or reasons, that can be attributed to this uniqueness?
A: Parfum d'Empire has a rare configuration in the world of perfume: we are entirely independent and I am the perfumer and sole owner of this house, I have my own laboratory. This allows me to use natural raw materials that few houses dare to use (and in such quantities) and the cost price is never an obstacle. Finally, this freedom gives me what is the greatest luxury in the world: time. Today, brands launch with 10 fragrances, the quantity of new releases is insane... When I created Parfum d'Empire over 20 years ago, I only released one fragrance, Eau de Gloire. Today the brand has 23 fragrances, and each one was created with the time it needed. With my fragrances, I've always wanted to tell original stories that are close to my heart. I've never compromised a release "because it had to be done" or because the market demanded it. It's probably this time, the greatest of luxuries, that contributes to the original character of each creation.
Q: What are your current inspirations; either in materials or concepts?
A: I'm always working on different projects at the same time. But after several perfumes that told very personal stories (Mal-Aimé, Vétiver Bourbon, Ruade...), I'm thinking of returning to more universal themes. Eroticism and the sacred are the oldest origins of perfume and never cease to fascinate me, and these themes are already present in Parfum d'Empire. But there are still a few angles I want to explore.
Q: Do you have any tips for those just starting out making perfume?
A: You have to be curious! Being open to the world around us is a source of creativity. Don't worry about trends, follow your own ideas, and work hard!
Q: When you teach at ISIPCA, is it in a specific area of focus?
A: I teach a few olfaction courses, which introduce the different raw materials in the perfumer's palette (both natural and synthetic). I also teach a few formulation classes. We study the great perfumery accords, to introduce the concepts of balance, structure, and facets.
Q: What drew you to your original concept of fallen empires? How do you feel this concept has evolved over the years and what specific direction do you see your current and future work moving in?
A: I've always been interested in the universal power of scent. Perfumes go through the ages and civilisations, and mankind was perfumed even before it could write. Time has made me realise that my early perfumes were personal stories in disguise. I preferred to talk about Ambre Russe, about the Russia of the last Tsars, with its great feasts. Whereas I used to talk about my parents' parties in their days of splendor. Cuir Ottoman, it was the leather of my father's Jaguar. Over time, I've become a little more confident and I'm more comfortable talking about my experiences through my fragrances. I've spoken more explicitly about Corsica, notably with the L'héritage corse collection. As for the future, I'm not really asking myself that question. I already find it hard to analyse my work (past or present)...
Q: Is there anything you find particularly inspiring in the modern fragrance industry?
A: I've always been fascinated by new plant extraction techniques, especially CO2 extraction, and by the more sophisticated separation techniques that allow you to separate one or more molecules precisely from the plant extract, which means you can work on the scent in a surgical way. When it comes to new perfumes on the market, I say this without pride, but I'm not really up to date with what's coming out.
Q: What drew you to teaching?
A: Perfumery is a field where you're always learning. All perfumers, even the most gifted, are always redoing their ranges. Teaching allows me to have new exchanges and therefore new ways of looking at raw materials, which I wrongly think I know by heart. I mentioned curiosity earlier when you asked for tips for beginners, and well, I'm still applying it! It forces you to revisit the basics.
Q: In your early study of botanicals, did you ever study plants used for early medicines or cultural rituals? How did you find yourself transitioning from botanical research to the extraction and use of botanicals in fragrance?
A: The use of early medicines plants and cultural rituals came to me as my professional life progressed. I actually worked in an aromatherapy research laboratory at the beginning of my career. At that time, aromatherapy was unknown to the public, and few people were interested in essential oils. It was a transition to the world of perfume formulation because I kept my chemist's hat on, specialising in the analysis of perfume plants, but I also made my first formulas. I had to create blends of essential oils with two constraints: to maintain therapeutic efficacy and to have a pleasurable dimension in the final scent of the product.
Q: Are there materials that you find challenging to work with?
A: Many natural raw materials are delicate to work with. For example, I love immortelle absolute. I use it very often in my perfumes, even in traces, but it's a very difficult product to master. When I was working on Immortelle Corse, I spent a lot of time trying to introduce it in the right way.
Q: Are there materials that you hope to work with in the future that you have not yet featured in afragrance?
A: For a long time, it was oud ! I knew exactly what to say with this extraordinary material, which took me straight back to the world of horses. But I think more about the stories I want to tell than just the raw materials. And I still have plenty of stories to tell!
Explore Parfum d’Empire’s fragrances here
Explore Ruade here
Explore Parfum d’Empire’s candles here