Fragrance Friday: The World’s Best Perfumers & Their Greatest Hits

Welcome to Fragrance Friday, where each week we’ll be keeping you abreast of the newest and most iconic releases in the dynamic world of men’s fragrances. Born out of the desire to showcase one of the most overlooked, yet versatile, elements of any discerning man’s style this weekly column will help you finesse your own signature scent. This week, we’re taking a brief look at some of the best perfumers of our time.

Fragrance Friday took a bit of an Easter break last week but it’s back again and for this edition, I wanted to do something a bit different. For most of the editions so far this year I’ve been looking at one brand at a time and listing what I think are some of the best fragrances from that brand. This week, I’m getting a little bit niche.

I want to write about some of the most prolific and reliable perfumers in the industry. These often act as stamps of high quality and it’s helpful to know which artisans can craft brilliant scents so you’ve got another metric when you’re researching which fragrances to buy, either for yourself or as a gift.

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The World’s Best Perfumers (And Their Greatest Hits)

Dominique Ropion

Dominique Ropion is probably the most prolific perfumer living today and seeing his name attached to a fragrance is enough to move units in the industry and turn heads. That’s probably why this French master perfumer, who trained at Roure Bertrand Dupont in Grasse, is always in such high demand for both niche and designer fragrances.

The man has cobbled together over 300 perfumes and has won numerous awards in the industry, his profile boosted by hits like Calvin Klein Euphoria for Women, Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit de l’Homme and Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower. His perfumes are typically strong and pervasive with plenty of force, which is why his works always seem to make such an impact.

Alberto Morillas

Alberto Morillas is another name I see pop up quite a lot whenever I’m researching my favourite perfumes. The award-winning Spanish master perfumer is considered the most successful and prolific self-taught perfumer in the world with over 7000 creations to his name. Though one particular propelled him straight to the hall of fame: CK One.

Calvin Klein’s most iconic perfume came from the mind of this self-taught artisan, as well as Gucci Guilty Absolute Pour Homme and Bvlgari Man In Black. These are some serious sellers even today so it’s no wonder Morillas mostly sticks to designer fragrances. Although you’ll find his name pop up in the niche section as well. More recently, he has done around three perfumes for Kilian, mostly targeted towards women.

Francis Kurkdijan

You’d have to be pretty proud of yourself if you were the mastermind behind Baccarat Rouge 540. This highly dynamic fragrance, from the perfumer’s eponymous label, was created to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the French crystal house Baccarat and, since launching in 2015, has become the “it” perfume for cased-up socialites and men of taste.

The unisex Eau de Parfum is alone enough to get Kurkdijan on this tight list of the world’s best perfumers but you’ll also want to check out some of his other works from his own label as well as a few of his greatest hits like the best-selling Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male.

In 2021, Kurkdijan became the in-house perfumer for Christian Dior so I would imagine that label has plenty of great fragrances released in the coming years. If any of them are even half as good as Baccarat Rouge 540 then maybe Sauvage, which was created by Kurkdijan’s predecessor, Francois Demachy, will no longer be Dior’s top-seller.

Roja Dove

Roja Dove is one of the most awarded British perfumers working today, cutting his teeth for two decades at Guerlain before founding Roja Parfums in 2011. His work has been so consistently brilliant that Roja Parfums is now one of the most reliable niche perfume labels in the world, especially for one that’s so young in the industry.

Just take a smell of something like the incredibly complex and dynamic Roja Parfums Apex and you’ll get why Dove is held in such esteem. The man knows how to tell a story via scent, and he tells it very well which is why he is considered one of the world’s best perfumers.