«Spending days in Turkish baths and walking through rooms filled with rose oil, reminiscing the essence while enjoying the taste and aroma of orange water all around you» – Franck Boclet on Rock’ N Raï Eau de Parfum
Franck Boclet: Paris to Morocco
Taste, touch, smell, feel and sight guide us through life and produce memories that the faintest sight, or in this case smell, can often trigger. It seems that Franck Boclet has mastered the art of creating memory through scent. The latest addition to the Paris-based, Moroccan-inspired fragrance line seems to lust after long days and aromatic nights spent in Morocco.
Named Blue Oriental, the line of scents born into the decade-old house is inspired by one of Boclet’s many creative trips to Morocco and his love for Marrakech where he now resides part-time in his Ryad. Inspired by different eras of Boclet’s life through fashion, art, craftsmanship, and rock&roll, Blue Oriental is the passion project where the scent itself takes you on a romantic stroll through hallways filled with artisanal hints traditional aromas of orange blossom, mint, cedar, saffron, and rose.
With every fragrance, Franck Boclet creates a wave of research & development to revolutionize already existing materials. As Boclet uses a high concentration of scent per bottle, each fragrance is different to the next, being tried and tested over long periods to ensure that every bottle is up to standards.
From fashion to fragrance for Franck Boclet
Trained as a textile engineer in 1985, Franck Boclet has visited the houses of Kenzo, Arrow, and Courrèges additionally as the artistic director of the Ungaro and Smalto Houses twice. Bocklet’s path led him to meet his close-knit team, who pushed and inspired Bocklet to fully dive closer towards fragrance and away from fashion, always having both juxtaposed together creating the perfect contrast between classic smells in a curated nature.
The Creation of Franck Boclet
«We decided that my name would be the beginning of creating an original story that follows both my personal and professional life, the experiences I’ve had, and the travels I’ve taken. Seeing that something is always happening in life, it’s a good place to start». Boclet makes a clear note that he bridges the gap between the creative self and the rock and rai of the eighty’s and nineties that lives within his soul.
The grace, elegance, and sensuality of his design and work for past fashion houses have evolved, together with his love for experimental art to birth his all-inclusive line of fragrances, In 2011, Franck Boclet launched his own label dedicated to the Man. Blending his two passions, Boclet mixes the timeless references of Rock & Rai fashion with the traditional world of Luxury.
Rock’ N Raï Eau de Parfum by Franck Boclet
Starting out with the four classic and signature scents for the first breakout collection of Franck Boclet Collection, miniature glass bottles consisting of oud, patchouli incense, and leather, and just like that the story begins, leading the next ten plus years to be filled with artistic collaboration, blending passions and ultimately creating a new playground for where passion meets art, design, and fragrance.
There is a strong link between the inspiration of the brand and the identity of Franck – his style, his attitude, and his passion for rock has helped curate a line of signature scents named Rock’ N Raï, directly inspired by various iconic rock sounds through history coming from the likes of David Bowie, The Clash, and the Rolling Stones. It’s this passion for various mediums of art that helps create fragrance lines such as this. The simplicity of the square bottle with a bit of a masculine edge, but all fragrances part of the house are gender fluid, and it brings together this elegance and edge that brings such a light to Boclet’s fragrances.
The Blue Oriental Express
Spending lengthy periods at his Ryad in Marrakech, the scents of the city stimulated Boclet to create Blue Oriental, directly linked to the scents of the city that you can’t miss, nor do you want to when visiting Morocco. «This woody, spicy oriental touch allowed us to create various experimental elements within the Blue Oriental line – one minty, one more with the essence of orange blossom, and two more with more woody and spicy tones, mixing in cedar and saffron for a bite, creating the balance between gentle and strong, and coexisting together peacefully».
«We decided to show these experiences and the changes in our life through fragrances. The first step of creating a fragrance is finding personal anecdotes and transforming those into a scent to remind you of that time. For Blue Oriental, the first step was expressing my love for Morocco, specifically Marrakech, and filling my mind with memories, experiences, and moments through my many years there. Visiting the spice souks and smelling the vibrancy of the saffron, mint, and orange blossom. Spending days sitting in the traditional and timeless Turkish baths and walking through the rooms filled with rose oil, later reminiscing the essence while enjoying the taste and aroma of orange water all around you».
It’s these scents that turn into memories and these memories that turn into bottles of fragrance that can be brought with you anywhere, almost as if a moment in time has stopped, and simply been paused to constantly linger on your skin as you go about your everyday practices.
Ethics make for a business through research and development
The fragrance industry is dependent on strong and ethical research and development. Months, if not years, can be spent gathering information, researching, sourcing, and collaborating with businesses of all scales globally to create the blends. However, ensuring that all stages of R&D are executed to the highest ethical standards has always been at the forefront of priorities.
«We produce everything in France, ourselves with our own manufacture that we manage and we have quality checks up to the highest possible standard. We have natural material and quality control, the concentrate needs to pass various tests, and qualifications until it can be pushed to the next step in production. One of the lengthiest processes is passing the tests through different noses – this can take between three to six to eight months of small tests before it can be approved in the final state. We are confident to offer the highest rating of product within the best packaging».
«It’s not the same thing to create fragrances as it is to create clothes. With clothes, you have an obligation to create for only two seasons. With fragrances, you have complete control and you do not need to think about that. At Boclet our image is more woody, oriental, and sweet. Boclet is rock, spicey, and woody – this is why Morocco is good for me as it is the land of my ethos».
The exact color of Blue Oriental is inspired by long walks through the gardens of Majorelle, Berber scarves but also the blue city of Chefchaouen. Blue Oriental is also the signature blue of the Franck Boclet concept store and Boutique in the home city of Franck Boclet, Paris.
Franck Boclet
Franck Boclet is the only artistic director within fashion to branch out and create niche fragrances. With the intention of creating fragrances with a strong personality, Franck Boclet Fragrances brings a sensuality that connects the mind, body, and soul, offering a range of fragrances. In January of 2019, Franck Boclet opened its first offline concept store and boutique in a refined, yet authentic setting, featuring perfumes, clothing, shoes, and accessories, both for women and men, found on two levels. All of Franck Boclet’s creations are presented while being open to a few other designers exhibiting their products.
