BBC Perfume Episode 2 (the documentary)

As for the second part of 'Perfume', the BBC documentary looked into the work of Jean-Claude Ellena; the in-house perfumer for Hermes, who receives his inspiration from nature and the secret garden that is located above the office of the fashion brand. It also looked into the scent company, 'I Hate Perfume' that is ran by perfumer, Christopher Brosius who believes that there is more to a perfume than just a pretty scent and looks at the market from a completely unique point of view. Finally, the third perfume house (or nose) that the documentary looks into is the Parisian School for Noses which is ran by Jean Guichard which intends to create professional perfumers who have the skills to create aromas for the best fragrance houses in the world.

Christopher Brossius 'I Hate Perfume'
Christopher Brosius is known for his quirky and unconventional approaches to perfume. As he states in the document himself, "if I'm breathing in and out, on some level I am working" as he takes inspiration from things that would never be considered as perfumes in the high end fragrance industry such as ink, crayons, paper bags, cardboard boxes and many more bizarre odours. The name of his shop, 'I Hate Perfume' reflects Brosius' brand values as a perfumer as he dislikes any scent that could be categorised as mainstream or ordinary and prefers to embrace natural odours. For instance, Brosius has been known to create scents that have translated the smell of an unwashed body, roast beef or Russian caravan tea to challenge the concept of perfume and replace it with the beauty of realistic everyday aromas, whether they are ones that make a person smell clean or not.

During the documentary, Brosius is set the task of creating a scent for the American designer, Sean Crowley who admires everything about England in the 1930's since growing up with an English grandfather who he suggests influenced his 'Anglophile' identity today. He wanted an aroma filled with essences of piped tobacco, wet tweed sleeves, an old combat jacket, cobble stones, whiskey, old battered books and even a pinch of Cadbury's chocolate to transport him across the seas and receive a real experience of Britain without leaving his home of Brooklyn.

Although many of these elements were hard for Brosius to capture as the scents in London have changed over decades due to modernisation, the perfumer still managed to come up with an everlasting recipe of a true British aroma to meet Sean Crowley's desirable brief. One element of the fragrance that Brosius was able to find so easily was the smell of old books which will forever translate a real Anglo experience.

A selection of Christopher Brosius' fragrances for his brand 'I Hate Perfume'

To view Christopher Brosius' brand website for 'I Hate Perfume' follow this link:
http://cbihateperfume.com/

Jean Claude Ellena for Hermes
Jean Claude Ellena; the perfumer for Hermes, mixes his fragrances to depict a vision of fantasy as he takes inspiration from locations such as secret gardens and whimsical forests to use as his muse  and to provide a scent with a sense of spirit and serenity. Instead of trying to capture reality like Brosius, Ellena, who was a previous apprentice at the Parisian School for Noses, tries to capture an illusion of dream-like beautiful scents within his work. Furthermore, the perfumer does not just take inspiration from the outdoor wilderness but also from the textures around him such as the rough concrete from the walls of his home or the panels from his window to gain a cold, smooth texture to creatively interpret into a perfume.

The secret garden that is located on top of the Hermes offices in Paris is a peaceful getaway for Ellena to build the relationship of man and nature which has became a recurring theme in his fragrances. During the documentary, we see Ellena begin to put together the recipe for his fragrance 'Garden on the roof' or 'Un Jardin sur le Nil' (translated in French) which was inspired by the natural elements from Hermes Secret Garden such as pears, magnolia and roses to communicate a liquid expression filled with quality, imagination and provenance. However, after three different experimentations of recipes, the final ingredients for the perfume were green mango, lotus, calamus and sycamore wood to take the consumer on an adventurous stroll through the island-gardens on the Nile at Aswan.

'Un Jardin sur le Nil' by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermes

One important thing that Ellena said during the documentary was that to be successful in the perfume or any creative industry for that matter, "you need to have doubt, if you are too sure about yourself, you close your mind" and therefore, you do not let potential upcoming influences of the world enclose on your imagination and take you off in different exciting directions.

Jean Guichard's School for Noses (Paris)
As for the final perfume house that the documentary looks into is the School for Noses which is a school that trains perfumers who win contracts to make fragrances for leading high end brands such as Calvin Klein, Dior and Givenchy. The school is located just outside of Paris and is ran by the biggest chemical company in the fragrance world, Givaudan. Not to mention it was also the school that Jean Claude Ellena studied at before his career.

However, not just anyone can study at this school as the principle, Jean Guichard has previously only chosen five people to study throughout the three years and the next year, none at all. The key to being a chosen perfumer at the school is for a person to have great cultural knowledge and an impressive personality which allows the students to continuously come up with innovative ideas for the fragrance industry.
In mid summer Jean Guichard takes his pupils to Provence to study lavender, a very common scent for many different fragrances. Even fragrances that are not perfumes such as air fresheners and washing up liquids include the scent of lavender, therefore, this worldwide scent is a key note for students to know if they want to be successful in the business. Furthermore, during their study the students are introduced to a selection of other universal juices and raw materials that are associated with manmade, animal and vegetable scents to extend their knowledge.

 Although the students do not make any fragrances during their studies they must memorise a great amount of mixtures combined with their knowledge of chemistry for their future in the industry.