Parfums Christian Dior names Francis Kurkdjian as perfume creation director

Parfums Christian Dior has announced the appointment of Francis Kurkdjian as perfume creation director. The company said in a release that he will lead the creation of the maison’s fragrances.

The company added that as artistic director and perfumer-creator of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, which he co-founded in 2009 with Marc Chaya and that has been part of the LVMH Group since 2017, Kurkdjian is considered as one of the main key players in the world of fragrances today. He will remain artistic director of Maison Francis Kurkdjian.

“Francis Kurkdjian is a visionary perfumer and a passionate artist who brings his full creative energies, savoir-faire and exacting professionalism to Dior perfumes, crafting future Dior fragrances that will conquer the world. Francis will build his creations from an exceptional olfactory heritage which started in 1947, anchored in the use of exceptional flowers and bold creative initiatives,” said Laurent Kleitman, president and chief executive officer of Parfums Christian Dior.

He was only 25 when he composed his first men’s fragrance, Le Male by Jean-Paul Gaultier, which launched his career. The company further said that a passionate artist and exceptionally skilled perfumer, Kurkdjian opened his bespoke fragrance atelier in 2001.

He is known for creating striking scents for mythic perfume maisons, including Dior, for which he composed Eau Noire and Cologne Blanche for the Collection Privée Christian Dior. In 2008, he was named best perfumer by Cosmétique Magazine, and many of his fragrances have won international prizes. In 2009, he was made Knight of Arts and Letters.

He has also signed numerous collaborations with renowned artists such as Sophie Calle and choreographer Christian Rizzo. His ongoing aesthetic journey has also led to olfactory installations and performances in settings as the Grand Palais and the Château de Versailles.

“It is a tremendous honor for me to join Parfums Christian Dior, a maison with a richly inspiring history and a resolutely future-facing creative spirit. I am delighted to share my vision through my fragrance creations. Working at Maison Dior while continuing to create for my own maison is a great privilege,” added Kurkdjian.