The Premier Perfumer

Aurelien Guichard is the genius behind MATIERE PREMIERE, the contemporary perfume brand crafting fragrances structured around one exceptional, carefully sourced, natural ingredient

- AMY SESSIONS

What do the first 30 mins of your day look like, your morning routine? I like to wake up early. When I am in Paris, I drink my coffee by the window, watching the sunrise over the trees of the Jardin du Luxembourg. Then, I ride my motorbike across the Seine, through place de la Concorde and up the avenue des Champs Elysées, to go to my creative laboratory. I’m looking forward to the month of May, when I will be back in my home near Grasse, in the South of France. I will watch the same sunrise over our fields of Rose Centifolia, and walk along the gravel path that leads to my atelier lab.

What is at the heart of MATIERE PREMIERE, the DNA? In each MATIERE PREMIERE fragrance, we allow one central, natural ingredient to shine, by uplifting its most beautiful facets. We put the emphasis on excellence in perfume quality, from raw materials sourcing to the final stages of bottling. We want to be one of the most qualitative brands on the market. Our promise is an unforgettable sillage, an emotional imprint that will never fade. In a way, I find our approach very close to the way people in the Middle East relate to fragrances, which I have always felt in line with. They have a love for beautiful raw materials, such a cypriol, rose, patchouli, saffron, spices and they also value perfumes as something that should have a strong identity, leave an imprint, that should express opulence by its immediately perceived quality, its projection, its long-lasting power.