Declaration Of Style

Men's Folio Malaysia speaks to Mathilde Laurent about her 20-year perfumery journey in Cartier.

- Stuart Danker

A new version of Cartier’s Déclaration hit the shelves last March, seeing a warmer expression of what was spicy and woody.

According to Cartier perfumer Mathilde Laurent, staying true to Jean-Claude Ellena’s original creation was part of the plan, and yet Laurent still brings something new to the fragrance, effectively capturing Cartier's style in a bottle.

As always, Men's Folio Malaysia was curious about the person behind the fragrance as much as the fragrance itself, which is why we found ourselves chatting with Laurent to learn more about her journey, her vision, and what went behind the creation of the new Déclaration.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME! LET US START WITH THIS: WHAT DOES PERFUMERY MEAN TO YOU?

For me, this profession is a means of expression. It's a way for me to express the beauty of things, and the things I cannot verbalise. Through perfumery, I feel as though I'm able to say the things that are beyond me, things I could not otherwise communicate.

To meet someone who wears a perfume that I created is a very powerful moment that overwhelms me. There is nonverbal communication, as if I were speaking a coded language of my own invention, and someone I don’t know has heard it, understood it, and is speaking that same code.

It means that the scents which move me also move the other, as if we have common emotions. It is the only moment of complicity that does not happen physically or verbally.

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE A NURTURING ENVIRONMENT IN THIS INDUSTRY, AND IS IT POSSIBLE TO GET INTO IT AT A LATER AGE IN LIFE?