As we enjoy the privilege and honor of an expanding community, we receive more requests for access to our events in ways that can be translated into mediums that aren’t time-sensitive or exclusive to in-person locations. One of the solutions we have been offering in the last year has been giving folks around the world the opportunity to anonymously submit questions to creatives, brand owners, and other important people from within the world of independent fragrant art via our blog. Most recently we published the answers to our AMA with Marc-Antoine from Parfum d’Empire, and are now beyond thrilled to be able to offer the answers Fabrice Croise from Scents of Wood has been so gracious as to offer us for everyone who will be unable to join us for our upcoming in-store event with him! Please enjoy below the questions you all submitted, and their answers!
Question: • What are your favorite places to go for inspiration when working on a new fragrance?
Fabrice’s Answer: Forest and trees (and books about them). I just came back from a trip to Japan and inspiration was everywhere. The tree species, their shapes, their smells… I found myself taking notes and pictures all day long to make sure I wouldn’t forget any detail. The fact that the trip took place during winter was also very meaningful: there is something magical about the way snow and trees combine to compose touching, evocative landscapes.
• It is both refreshing and impressive that you have chosen to be so transparent with the inner workings of how the perfume industry works. What inspired you to share your knowledge and experience with the public?
I just thought it might be of interest to some people. It’s kind of the way I function myself: I am very eager to learn the behind-the-scenes elements of things I am passionate about. It just adds depth and allows for a more complete understanding of any field.
• What initially drew you to the world of perfume?
It wasn’t really my choice. It actually is a bit of a crazy story. I started my career at L’Oréal, a company with a brand portfolio that covers all 4 businesses of beauty (skin care, makeup, hair and fragrance). At that time, every new recruit was interviewed by an HR manager who chose the brand they would start on. After a 45 minute conversation, that HR person suggested I would be a good fit for fragrance. Little did I know (and I am not sure she did either) that she was deciding my entire career at that moment. I wish I knew her name and could find her and thank her. In a way I owe her my entire career.
• You have been very ambitious in launching a scent-subscription and the sheer amount of fragrances released annually. Have there been any surprises for you in taking this approach? Have you been pushed to revise your initial concept after seeing the method in full production?
The most important thing I have learned is that time spent on creation doesn’t necessarily translate into quality. A fragrance will not necessarily be better because one spends more time refining it. And I think this holds true of anything creative. The original inspiration, the starting point, is what matters most. Much more so than endlessly fine tuning, sharpening, adding or subtracting. Those things are important of course, but in moderation. Fine tuning a bad idea won’t make it a good one. And conversely, overly reworking a good idea might dilute it to the point of extinction.
• Your collaboration with perfumers go beyond merely assigning a brief. You request they identify personally with creating a fragrance, in the form of choosing a memory or experience of a connection to trees and/or woods. What has this process been like for you?
I truly think that every brand should have their own proprietary briefing system. The brief to the perfumer is such a key moment in the development of a new scent. It should reflect the ethos of the brand and differentiate it from any other.
In the case of Scents of Wood, we start from what I call the “personal forest” of the perfumer, composed of all their intimate memories of trees, forests, woody notes and wooden objects. That’s what we tap into as a starting point.
This process has been a very effective way of injecting emotion and personal involvement into the conversation that precedes the creation. And those are fundamental ingredients of a successful collaboration.
• Recently, you opened up your fragrance studio in Utah to welcome those who have chosen to be members of your scent subscription. What moves you to share this part of your process with the public? What would you like them to gain from this experience?
Actually, our workshop party was open to everyone. It was the first of its kind and we will definitely do it again. My long-term vision for the Scents of Wood company is a constellation of workshops in different regions of the world, each servicing a local community of subscribers and customers, each open to all of them all the time. Subscribers will visit any of those locations at any time, coming from anywhere. There will always be a place for them to sit, socialize or work, right in the midst of us filling and assembling products. Maybe even a few bedrooms upstairs, maybe interesting meals and activities being offered. Like a fragrance-obsessed social club.
• What inspired you to create NFT fragrances? You are very open and transparent and even encourage your audience to participate in guiding the creations. This removes some of the traditional mystery of the fragrance industry and is a very innovative approach to perfumery. Can you describe what this looks like to you?
We went into Web 3 and NFTs because we are committed to explore every idea potentially linking luxury scents and the digital world. Hence our subscription model, hence our focus on customization, hence our ties to influencers. Web 3 is going through a bit of controversy at the moment, and NFTs have been given a bad name, but the ideas of community-driven creation and co-ownership of brands remain fascinating. We have renamed our project the Creators Club and we will keep exploring with our members all that can be done in terms of fragrance co-creation.
• You have brought so many innovations to your creative approach to perfumery. Macerating cane alcohol in wooden casks, being fully accessible in your process, and actively asking for customer involvement in certain creations. Do your inspirations come from a big-picture vision or are they more guided by the norms of the current fragrance industry and things that you would like to change?
Interesting and complicated question. I think a bit of both. I do have a vision for an inclusive, transparent, happy, and welcoming way of conducting business, for sure. But I also feel the urge to shake things a little bit in our industry. Fragrance creation is such a formatted process, there is a lot of room for change in my opinion. In creation, design, and product development but also in branding, storytelling, and distribution.
• The level of creative input and sheer quantity of fragrances is admirable. Given some of the challenges faced by other brands in the past, do you see this as the way Scents of Wood will continue to operate for the foreseeable future?
Thank you. And yes, for sure, we will keep operating that way. “All creation, all the time” was and will remain our motto. Not necessarily easy, but so much more satisfying and stimulating.
• Will Pascal Gaurin be crafting the next iteration of Plum in Cognac? Do you have any details on what kind of cask will be used for the next formula?
He has! The work on Plum in Cognac vintage 24 is completed and I will present it at the event. I am in love with that re-invention of a scent that I loved so much in the first place. It is quite remarkable. The barrel is a different French oak barrel, that was also used for years to age cognac.
• The concentration of Scents of Wood is pretty reliable and only deviates slightly between fragrances so far. Do you think Scents of Wood will release extraits at some point?
Only if it makes sense to a particular creation. We choose concentrations based on the olfactive result. Every scent is optimal at a certain concentration. That’s what we are after. We typically do not test them above 24% so it’s unlikely that we will ever release extraits. But who knows?
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Explore Scents of Wood’s fragrances here, and their candles here