Dominique Ropion
Perfume makes people desirable, it’s a fabulous power. My ambition is to create emotion in others, to help them feel more present in the world or step back from it, to build connections – of community, of faith or of love –to generate self-confidence, to bring people closer, and to invite them to take an interest in one another, even if only to discover what others smell like.
Considered by his peers one of the greatest talents of his generation, if not the greatest master perfumer working today, Dominique Ropion is quick to downplay his own career: "There's nothing particularly remarkable about it. Perfumery wasn't my calling at all. It took me a long time to realize I was going to become a perfumer. Back then, perfumers were placed on a pedestal, so it never crossed my mind." It was by pure chance that he entered the field – another student dropped out of perfumery school, and Dominique was offered the opportunity instead. Before accepting, he decided to meet a few perfumers to better understand the craft. He spoke with Jean Amic, Jean Louis Sieuzac, and Pierre Bourdon. "Normally, it takes me months to make a decision," he recalls, "but that day I simply thought, why not? I moved to Grasse for three years, then returned to Paris to complete my training. It's funny, I had never imagined being a perfumer, even though I have always loved smells.
For Dominique, scent quickly became a passion and a calling. "I've always smelled everything, but I had never linked that pleasure to the idea of creating my own fragrances. I've always loved art, so why not compose with smells instead of sounds or colors?
From the very beginning, Dominique approached perfumery with rigorous discipline. He knew instinctively that luck alone would never be enough, so he worked methodically. "I immediately told myself I had to learn every smell before been thinking about composing. It was an immense pleasure, and an extraordinary introspective experience, almost like psychoanalysis. To learn a scent, you have to connect it with everything it evokes for you. It's a deep, personal process that can take you very far. I'd avise anyone to embark on that unfathomable inner journey.
Like any apprenticeship, his was full of trial and error, lessons that transformed him into a tireless perfectionist. "You can't be a dilettante," he says. "The molecules won't let you." What moves Dominique most is perfume itself: "It creates a bubble of intimacy. Smells open us in our own private space. Perfume is an aerosol of emotions. I often feel as though I'm swallowing a fragrance as much as breathing it — it travels through my throat and lungs, reaching my cerebral cortex. Scents physically feed my thoughts. Creating emotions in others is an almost poetic act. The art of blending smells, like the art of music, builds bridges of community, of faith, of love. It gives confidence, brings people together, sparks curiosity — if only to discover what others smell like."
"I'm still a dreamer," he concludes, "anchored in the reality of others, driven by their desires. I’m deeply attached to sensual emotions and to encounters that show me new ways of thinking. When I think of perfume, I evoke femininity — not a woman, not a book, not a painting — and I create because I love to talk about love, sexuality, and freedom."
Dominique Ropion is a master perfumer, a dreamer, a liberator — an architect of scent devoted to the pursuit of olfactory beauty.
