The new splendour of leather in perfumes: a masterclass with Rodrigo Flores-Roux

Exploring the history of leather in perfumery is to embark on an olfactory journey full of secrets–a terrain as technical as it is evocative. From Grasse to the Meatpacking District, we delve into the history of this accord with an eye on the trends that the major fashion houses have shown on the runways, embracing a cowboy core aesthetic.

Because leather has always been present in both fashion and perfumery, but now it returns to the spotlight with a renewed character we are about to discover.

For Rodrigo Flores-Roux, the current interest in leather notes is not a fleeting trend, but a return to olfactory territories rich in history and character.

"There is a perfumistic interest in exploring leathery and animalic notes," he explains. Traditionally, when we speak of leather in perfumery, we refer to a type of accord known as Russian leather. This term entered perfumery vocabulary thanks to fragrances like Chanel's Cuir de Russie, among others. It represents the smell of Russian boots, tanned with resins and birch tar. It has a very specific, smoky scent.

But the connection between leather and perfumery has even older roots. "When Catherine de Medici married the King of France in the 16th century, she brought with her to court, her leather tanners and glove makers, who made perfumed gloves," he narrates. Part of her entourage settled in Grasse, where the need to perfume gloves and mask the smell of hides sparked the flourishing essence industry. From there, almost unknowingly, the epicenter of modern perfumery was born.

This olfactory imagery entered perfumery in the second half of the 19th century with the introduction of empyreumatic essential oil, a raw material obtained by distilling birch tar. Its burnt, deep, and animalic character made it the base of some iconic perfumes. "Chanel's Cuir de Russie and Knize Ten were two pioneers in turning leather into an emblem of sophistication and luxury," he points out.

Birch tar is still used today, albeit in more measured doses and under new regulations. For example, Flores-Roux mentions two concrete examples: "In the 1980s, perfumes such as Bel Ami by Hermès or Derby by Guerlain used very marked leather accords, especially in masculine compositions.

There is also a variant of classic Russian leather known as Cuir de Espagne or Peau d'Espagne. The concept is similar, although instead of birch tar, traditional tanneries used cade essential oil, a type of burnt cypress. The perfumer names it as one of his recurring ingredients: "I use it a lot. I include it in trace amounts in many of my perfumes. In a floral fragrance, for example, it adds an unexpected richness".

These smoky notes, tied to wood and leather, evolved in the 20th century with the discovery of new synthetic molecules. In the 1920s, perfumers began experimenting with a new family of molecules: quinolines, substances that evoked the smell of burnt wood, damp earth, even certain roots. One in particular stood out: isobutyl quinoline, which aroused great interest because of its dark, dry, animal-like character, which was radically modern for the time.

"One of the first major applications of this molecule was by De Laire in Grasse, who developed a mythical base by mixing isobutyl quinoline with generous doses of violet and moss," recalls Flores-Roux. The result was the famous Mousse de Saxe, one of the most influential constructions in the history of perfumery. This base was the backbone of many iconic perfumes for decades and is still studied today as an example of balance.

Rodrigo piques my curiosity about this dark, earthy base and, upon investigation, I discover that Mousse de Saxe was not the only one. It coexisted with the Mousse de Crète (Cretan Moss) and the Mousse de Chypre (Cyprus Moss). All three revolve around oak moss as the backbone and interpret earthy and resinous sensations playing with leathery, animalic, and balsamic notes. Hence the connection between chypre perfumes and the chypre family.

"A leathery perfume is by definition part of the chypre family. Vetiver, patchouli, leather, and moss notes always go together because they blend so well. These are notes that tend to smell like earth, like roots, with a leathery tone," explains Flores-Roux. "Guaiac wood, smoke notes, tars, vetiver, Florentine iris rhizomes, and patchouli are used in perfumes with leather notes because they are earthy notes," he continues.

How is the smell of leather created? The characteristic smell of leather cannot be faithfully reproduced in perfumery," the perfumer explains. Why? Leather is a "living material" and, as such, its smell varies with time, use, environment, and treatment. "It emits a series of molecules that we can't isolate," he states.

That's why, when we speak of leather notes in perfumery, we're not referring to a literal extraction of the material, but to an olfactory construction–an accord inspired by the idea of leather, whether Russian boots, perfumed gloves from Grasse, or modern biker clothing.

In the words of the perfumer: "In reality, leather notes don't smell like actual leather, but like a historical reference to leather."

Today, leather accords are being rewritten from new, cleaner, and subtler perspectives. "If you exaggerate too much, you inevitably end up with a referential, almost vintage note," says Rodrigo Flores-Roux; that is, that dense leather that evokes the past with all its cultural weight.

"Leather adds contrast and olfactory tension," he explains. It's not an easy note, but a tremendously expressive one. It doesn't please at first; it's for connoisseurs, for those seeking perfumes that say something more. That's why it has historically been a challenging accord.

Using the leather note today requires delicacy, warns Rodrigo Flores-Roux: "If you don't dose it properly, the perfume can feel old. To avoid that, in creations such as Tom Ford's Ébène Fumé, he created a construction focused on spirituality, combining smoke, a touch of quinoline, and accords evoking the mysticism of Palo Santo. "It's a way of using leather in a more abstract, more contemporary way," he explains.

Flores-Roux has worked leather into many of his perfumes. In the reformulation of Houbigant's Fougère Royal, for example, he introduced this note to give body and depth. And in Bois Pacifique, also by Tom Ford, he combined iris, juniper tar and a measured dose of quinoline to build an ethereal leather that combines spices and noble woods.

But perhaps one of the most provocative launches is yet to come. Rodrigo Flores-Roux gives us a sneak preview of one of his new creations for Carlos Huber, founder of the Arquiste brand, to be released in the second half of the year. It is a new fragrance inspired by the New York leather men of the 90s, when the nightlife and rebellion were at a peak in the Meatpacking District.

Rodrigo describes it as a nighttime composition, full of erotic nostalgia and urban energy: "A quest for love and leather in a wild city". Though it revolves around the concept of oud, it doesn't smell like the oud we know, but rather like a modern fantasy composed of leathery notes, synthetic leather, biker boots, and Harley Davidson smoke.

It will be a bold, hypnotic, and very urban fragrance that we are already eager to discover. Its name, still secret, promises to be as evocative as its olfactory story.