Thibaud Crivelli worked with the French perfumier Quentin Bisch to transform the memory of a night trek in a tropical forest into a fragrance – everything starts from a synesthesia
An Empirical Approach to Perfume
Having grown up in La Roche Posay, France, as part of a family of scientists and entrepreneurs Thibaud Crivelli was aware of the possibility of mixing business and nature, given that he was raised surrounded by nature. Once Crvielli had decided that this was to be his life choice, the rest followed suit: «the objective was always to create my own brand one day».
After Business studies, he moved to Asia in 2006 where he spent a decade working with a number of perfume houses. This move was formative as it gave him «the opportunity to discover a range of perfume ingredients in the places where they are cultivated». He spent time in the markets and fields encountering elements such as spices, patchouli, vetiver and ylang ylang which in turn made him appreciate the variety that nature provides.
Visits to Indonesia and Malaysia made him aware of the impact of palm oil plantations in addition to the fact that «farmers were giving up the traditional culture of perfume ingredients as the yields were too low».
Raw ingredients and respecting the environment
These encounters in Asia carried through into his philosophy for Maison Crivelli on the primacy of the raw ingredients and respecting the environment. For sourcing patchouli in Indonesia he decided to collaborate with the initiative Coeur du Foret. «This brings support to the farmers and ensures that they continue to grow perfume ingredients in a sustainable and qualitative way».
The rest of the ingredients used by Maison Crivelli can be sourced from all over the world, but it is imperative that they select «a high level of quality» as factors such as the area of origin, the weather condition and the transformation method all have an impact on these levels.
Low toxicity and ecological awareness is key throughout the process: there are no artificial colors in the formulas and the fragrances are presented in boxes made of handmade Italian paper and protected with a cello wrap made from compostable wood rather than plastic.
Maison Crivelli: sensorial stimuli to create a multi-faceted concept
The message of Maison Crivelli is that Beauty lies in the Unexpected. This desire to go against convention is tied to the belief that an element of surprise lends things a greater force; that they can bring «stronger memories and thus more happiness». Key to Maison Crivelli is the premise of Slow Perfume. By reducing the rhythm and paying attention to the things around him.
It is a personal project as its inspiration are experiences that Crivelli had when he «encountered perfume ingredients in a surprising and sensorial way». This has fed through into the methods that Crivelli uses to create his fragrances through collaboration with a range of perfumers.
Crivelli practices synaesthesia which means that he cross references his sensorial stimuli to create a multi-faceted concept. Once these ideas are formed, he composes a moodboard of images, videos, sounds, descriptions of food he has eaten, or people he has met that he shares with the parfumier in order to collaboratively create a fragrance that has multisensorial facets.
«The idea to create a perfume which will be the opposite of what you can expect». The result are fragrances that are focussed on a sense of originality that are not ingredient driven and consequently do not fall into the same scent profiles but instead seek to break archetypal characteristics.
Ambre Chromatique: «the opposite of a sweet and deep amber»
The experience that inspired Ambre Chromatique is «a night trek in a mysterious and colorful tropical forest». Crivelli worked with the French perfumier Quentin Bisch to develop this memory into a fragrance. Rather than fall into the typical characteristics of a sweet and deep amber, it is further inspired by a search for benzoin resin and therefore the fragrance is more dry.
Top notes of incense and pink peppercorn create an intensity, in a dry and resinous manner, but equally contrast each other. Amber is reserved for the base notes where it blends with benzoin resin and vanilla bourbon to lend a warmth to the scent. Connecting the top and the base notes are davana and osmanthus at the heart: characterized by a citrusy warmth, and a velvety touch.
Maison Crivelli
Maison Crivelli was born from Thibalt Crivelli’s desire to preserve the natural and raw ingredients. Having lived on five continents, all scents are inspired by memories that Crivelli has experienced.
