In the documentary Nose, we see you closely at work flower growers around the world. What’s that collaborative relationship like?

“It’s both an obligation and a pleasure. It’s a virtuous cycle: we support them year after year by buying all of their production, and that affects me in the best way because I enjoy the best raw materials there are! Sometimes, going to the fields and seeing the harvests gives me ideas and inspires new things that make me want to create a perfume around.”

That sure challenges the way we think of perfume creation: it takes place not only in labs, but also out in the fields.

“You often think that perfume is created in a lab by one man, but we show now that perfume is the result of a human chain – the people who prepare the land and plant the flowers; the ones who harvest them; the ones who transform them into absolutes; the one who reflects on and mixes them (me) and finally the customer who wears it. It’s my belief that a perfume doesn’t really exist in the world before it is worn by somebody.”

Nose directors De Kersauson and Clement Beauvais (pictured) spent five years shadowing Demachy and call raw materials “primordial” and a “holy grail” to the master perfumer.

The key notes in J’adore Infinissime – from tuberose to centifolia rose and jasmine sambac – come from the Grasse region of France. Why is Grasse so important to you?

“Grasse is with me in everything I do. I know it sounds cliche, but it’s the truth. I grew up here and remember distinctly the fresh smell of jasmine in the fields at night when I used to ride on my bike and the smell of rose in the morning when the flowers open up with the first rays of sun. It’s imprinted in my olfactory memory.”

The star of J’adore Infinissime is tuberose. Why this flower?

“My brief was to ‘make a J’Adore that would be the most J’Adore of all’. To me that immediately meant to make it more sensual and sexy. That sensuality comes from the tuberose from Grasse. It is so powerful THAT we have to use it in small amounts in a composition. Back in the 20th century, there were even urban legends around tuberose from Grasse. Young ladies were prohibited to walk through the fields at night because we didn’t want it to give men ‘ideas’. It is of course not true – it doesn’t have magical powers! – but that anecdote is quite appropriate because it shows how powerful it is.”

An important point about the tuberose in J’adore Infinissime is that it’s extracted through a time-honoured enfleurage technique. Can you tell us about that?

“Enfleurage is a very traditional and expensive technique that has almost disappeared. It takes a lot of time and manpower because it has to be done manually and delicately. Flowers are put one by one on a greasy ‘pomade’ to extract their smell. This allows us to keep as close as possible to the natural scent of the flower. Tuberose, when extracted differently, can be a bit too heady and lose its floral, greener element. I did not want that for J’Adore.”

The original J’adore was created by Calice Becker in 1999. What is it like to create a perfume around a scent that already exists?

“When working on a new variation of an existing scent, I try to stay faithful to the basis and work around it. It’s like removing the elements that make a house – little by little until you’re left with the structure. Around that, there are so many different directions to go so I explore. For J’Adore, what is very characteristic is the bouquet of flowers from around the world; some more exotic than others. This bouquet is so well balanced, it is a masterpiece. I try to keep that while introducing different constructions: Grasse tuberose, sandalwood for a warmer base note – I change the balance by adding new elements.”

In your work, what is the balance of the artistic and the technical like?

“I’m much more of an artisan than an artist. I have ideas and inspirations, but above all I have the knowledge, techniques and training. Training your nose is like training a muscle for a high-level athlete: You have to keep practising. To this day I still train my nose to make sure I remember all the scents that I’ve memorised. Above all, I try to interpret emotions into olfaction. Whatever the origin is – a feeling, a colour, a particular scent, a painting, a piece of music, a landscape, a flower, a dish… I try to convey what it makes me feel using my craft. I’m an interpreter at best!”

You’ve described the whole process of perfumery as a human chain, but it does ultimately boil down to what you, the perfumer, create. Do you view that as a solitary experience?

“At the early stages at least – because you have to try things out, rely on your guts and choices, and try again. At some point though, you need to get out of your own nose and have other people’s opinions to help you move forward. Perfume is about emotion. It’s very human by definition.”

Hubert and Carole Biancalana are the father-and-daughter owners of the Grasse-based Domaine de Manon that produces roses, jasmine and tuberose exclusively for Dior

And what about today? In a time of face masks, covered noses and human distance, how can we keep the emotion and magic of perfume alive?

“Perfume is a statement that you wear to say something of yourself. One might not think so, but you actually can smell it through a mask even if the scent is not as precise. You also wear perfume for yourself as confirmed by the fact that numerous people in lockdown still wear perfume every day. I imagine that it can be a way of communicating from afar; to keep us closer in these strange times. The magic of perfumery is not going anywhere!”

A version of this article first appeared in the April 2021 Community edition of FEMALE