Nicolas Bonneville
For Nicolas, the worlds of Fashion and Perfumery are also intimately linked. Style, expression, and intention are as much common elements in the creation of a fashion collection as they are for a perfume. Fashion runway shows represent, for him, both the ultimate expression of a designer’s vision and a comment on our very global world .
Nicolas Bonneville fell in love with his craft at the age of 13 during a trip to Grasse. From then on, he returned there regularly to learn everything about the world of perfumery, including extractions and distillations. He chose to train with a Grasse perfumer, Jacques Maurel, who recommended the Jean Carles method of perfumery. Passionate about natural raw materials, he continues to spend his holidays there at the same time as the plants and flowers used in perfumery are harvested.
In the same spirit, he travels to India to follow the Jasmine Sambac harvest, to Italy for Mandarin and Bergamot, to Florence for Iris, and to Tunisia to experience the Orange Blossom harvest. He loves to be inspired by natural ingredients, and even grows them himself in Paris: Tuberose, Osmanthus, Rose Centifolia, Jasmin Grandiflorum and Mimosa.
From a very young age, every year he attended the mythical car race "24 Hours of Mans", his hometown, which gave him an appreciation of the sports car culture. He is attached to the values of sports car racing: endurance, competition and team spirit. It is clear why Nicolas draws a parallel between motor racing and his own career: collaboration and collective performance are essential in both.
Always looking for inspiration, Nicolas is a lover of art. As with fragrances, he loves the idea of making the emotions and messages conveyed by Pop or Street Art accessible to everyone. He admires the ability to express himself by reusing everyday objects and reinterpreting the urban experience, as Warhol, Haring, JonOne or Banksy did.
For Nicolas, the worlds of fashion and perfumery are intimately linked. Style, expression and intention are as common elements in the creation of a fashion collection as they are for a perfume. For him, fashion shows represent both the ultimate expression of a designer's vision and a commentary on our global world.
Similarly, when he is involved in a project, he considers it important to infuse the identity and DNA of a fashion house into its fragrance. Nicolas Ghesquière and Hedi Slimane are among the visionary fashion designers who inspire him.
