February 2025
Fragrance lately
In conversation: Thibaut Mathieu from Cakedesign Studio
Please introduce yourself in 3 sentences:
I am Thibaut Mathieu, founder of the Cakedesign agency in Paris and creative director. I work for luxury brands in the world of fashion, perfumes, jewellery and decoration. I was the creative director of AD magazine in France for 8 years.
Tell us more about the projects you’ve done within the fragrance industry
I worked for many years for brands such as Kenzo Parfums, Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci and Lancôme, designing communication campaigns and packaging.
One project we worked on was the cardboard packaging and campaign for Kenzo Air in 2003. The whole idea was to transform the idea of air in imagery. We did that by putting together a very gentle image which embodies this idea of something that we cannot apprehend. On the campaign, there is a hand, a car - which take up less than a third of the total image - and everything else is the sky. The image we had imagined evoked the idea that the young man wanted to catch a piece of the sky, a bit of air - this perfume was aerial - in its concept and its scent.
Which fragrance company do you find particularly interesting, and why?
I have always loved the work of Comme des Garçons, both in terms of the olfactory concepts and the design of the bottles.
It is a very conceptual approach, based on the idea of the moment, of the memory; the idea of creating perfumes evoking places, moments, colours - the whole concept is superb.
Most of the perfumes imagined are from the same creator: Christian Astuguevieille.
What’s your first fragrance memory?
The smell of my father using shampoo with cade oil and sandalwood (by Hégor). Cade oil has an extremely particular smell which I much enjoy.
Any favourite perfume or one that has a particular memory you’d like to share?
Acqua di Colonia Sandalo by Santa Maria Novella. I discovered sandalwood thanks to my father who bought a lot of sandalwood perfumes and used Roger Gallet sandalwood soap which I loved.
What scent would you like to capture as a perfume if you could?
When I was a child, we would go down to the parking lot to get the car and in the hallway a strange smell always struck me... it wasn't unpleasant, I don't know where it came from, but it left a deep mark on me... I would like to find it again.
Was it a mixture of paint, concrete… it smelled new... because the parking lot was recent. Every time I enter a parking lot now I imagine finding it... but it is not the case.
What’s a fragrance product you would create if you could?
The scent of intelligence.
Any upcoming project / launch you want to share?
I am currently working on the launch of a brand of modernist jewellery, Templier, together with the grandchildren of a great designer from the 1930s who was a friend of Jean Puiforcat. I am also working on art direction and branding for Mariha, a Japanese jewellery and dress brand - and I will likely also accompany the creation of their first fragrance launch.
Tune of the day: Melancholic - for example Nightporter de Japan
Fragrance of the day: Mouchoir de Monsieur Guerlain by Guerlain
Recent investments in fragrance:
L’Oréal acquires minority stake in Omani luxury fragrance house Amouage
L’Oréal venture capital arm BOLD invests in South Korean luxury fragrance brand Borntostandout, launched 2022 and present in 60 countries
New industry appointments:
Vanita Sabnani Dalamal, Global Vice President of Transformation, Strategy, and Creative Lab at Puig, named as new chairman of The Fragrance Foundation UK
Samantha Mane succeeds her father Jean Mane as CEO of the MANE Group
My fragrance of the day: Odisiaque n°6 by Sous Le Manteau - nose: Nathalie Feisthauer - spice, very subtle lemon spritz, warmth, dry cedar, resin, smooth ginger, shiny smooth leather
C’est la vie, Zurich 2021
- Flo
hello from zurich 👋🫶