KILIAN Focus
Kilian Hennessy, the master of scent behind his namesake brand and the heir to the Hennessy dynasty, tells us how his sensory journey with fragrances began
Born into the legendary Hennessy cognac empire, who also has a stake in LVMH—the world’s leading luxury products group—Kilian Hennessy is the eighth generation of the Hennessy family. But despite being given the opportunity to work in the family business throughout this youth, Kilian took a different path to forge his own legend.
It all started when Kilian wrote his university thesis on the semantics of scent, which led him to his olfactory training at a “nose school” in Paris—and he was hooked from the first class. After rigorous training with some of the greatest noses in perfumery and working for the likes of Christian Dior, Paco Rabanne, Alexander McQueen and Giorgio Armani, Kilian launched his eponymous brand, KILIAN, in 2007, honouring the Hennessy’s tradition of fine quality and sophistication in the world of luxury fragrance—albeit with his first name.
Not one to compromise on quality, Kilian Hennessy privileges the raw and rare, creating long-lasting accords that recall luxury French fragrances of former eras. Unafraid to break the rules, he is also a pioneer in making perfume visible, by linking his scents, and the stories they tell with objets d‘art, including signature lacquered clutches, engraved travel sprays as well as art deco carafes—not to mention his line of delicately scented makeup, Le Rouge Parfum.
To mark KILIAN'S launch in Hong Kong, Kilian spoke with us about his first scent memory, inspirations and perfume of choice.
See also: My Favourite Things: Kilian Hennessy
What is your first scent memory?
My Madeleine de Proust is the scent of Tuberose as all the women in my family used to wear tuberose based scents! But my most vivid scent memory is the perfume worn by my grandfather: “Eau Sauvage” by Dior. He used to wet his hair with it. The smell of Eau Sauvage mixed with his pipe…that was the scent of my childhood.
When I launched KILIAN back in 2007, I created a tuberose scent called Beyond Love: Prohibited. I guess tuberose will always be a part of my life, since my wife is also a tuberose addict. I created a bespoke tuberose scent with hints of jasmine and daffodil for her as my wedding gift.
Perfume is really a messenger who can open a thousand doors in your memory.