Alberto Morillas
Master perfumer Alberto Morillas is the first perfumer in history to receive the Fragrance Foundation's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. His lifelong collaboration with research and development chemists and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of perfume allow him to fuse innovative natural techniques with revolutionary synthetic molecules, many of which he helped patent, to create true works of art.
After decades of unwavering passion for the perfumer's craft, Alberto's ideas continue to stand out. His extraordinary journey is alive in his legendary creations of intricate design. No wonder Master Perfumer Alberto Morillas is the first perfumer in history to receive the prestigious Fragrance Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
His lifelong collaboration with research and development chemists and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of perfume allow him to fuse innovative natural techniques with revolutionary synthetic molecules, many of which he helped patent, to create true works of art. With humility, he points out that he still has doubts. "Even when we have learned everything there is to know, there are still doubts. A formula is like a well-written sentence: there are thousands of beautiful words to choose from, but what makes it striking is the emotion with which they come together".
Raised in Seville, Alberto was encouraged to develop and explore his inquisitive nature. His parents, elegant and refined, were always smartly dressed. The courtyard of his childhood home captured aromas like a bottle of fragrances. Young Alberto delighted in the scents of the well, the loquats, the clean laundry and the jasmine in his lush and beautiful garden. At the epicentre of his holiday was the ocean. Memories of the sea breeze, the unforgettable smell of the Atlantic and the mysterious secrets of the sea still move him. With a smile on his face, Alberto recalls a time when he spent his holidays in a phone box to keep up to date with an important project. He would send his children to buy sweets and with the change he would prolong the call when time ran out. Alberto's three children, now grown up, have chosen different career paths to their father despite their inherited gift for smell. "You have to have an innate passion for creation. It is a vocation. You have to love it, love it and? love it.
Although Alberto's heart belongs to Andalusia, his life's work brought him to Geneva, where his desk sits in the middle of his laboratory. As a young man, he had the revelation that behind every fragrance there is a designer. "If a fashion designer could not touch and experience the fabric with his hands, it would be… unthinkable". Much of his inspiration comes from being surrounded by his ingredients, and he couldn't imagine doing it any other way. As he has always looked to the future, "maybe too much!", he admits that he doesn't sleep much. There is too much to do, too much inspiration to gather, from strolling through his beloved garden with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in hand, to watching tigers in India. Nothing stops a true creative mind, not even the end of the day.
