Grandson of the founder of the LVMH group, Kilian Hennessy of the famous cognac family, is considered one of the great contemporary noses. Passionate, creative and innately elegant, he is a perfume visionary that managed to change the way scents are conceived and presented.
From Prelude to Love to Forbidden Games and to his latest creations, Imperial Tea, and Sacred Wood, scents of his niche brand By Kilian are true works of olfactory art, sensual, modern and yet timeless.  Kilian Hennessy, founder of luxury perfumes By Kilian, talks about style, inspiration, scents, and memories.

– What is your favorite scent? What memories does it invoke?

My favorite scent is and will always be Tuberose! All the women of my family wore Tuberose scents. When I launched By Kilian back in 2007, a tuberose scent was part of my first collection L’Oeuvre Noire. It is called Beyond Love: Prohibited. And I guess Tuberose will always be part of my life as my future wife is also a Tuberose addict.

– The perfumes you create are sultry, sexy and exciting; Do you have a specific woman in mind or is it your French temperament that comes through?

To be totally honest with you, not really. I create olfactive stories that excite me! Because you are absolutely right: I like sexy! I like exciting! I want the perfume I wear to excite the senses of the woman I love.  But otherwise, my influences come either from the past when it touches art, movies, and literature or from the present when it comes to music and photography.

– How hard was it to establish By Kilian in the niche perfume market? 

Especially considering that until a few years ago it was almost non-existent.  In French niche means a house for dogs. As you can imagine, I don’t really enjoy the term. But I think that the niche has exploded so much that, there is no longer one niche but a tremendous variety of niches from the most luxury to the most avant-garde.

This is very exciting but scary at the same time. Personally, I am just scared that the customer will get lost in so many options! That’s why I never opened any store where I cannot display my world through a personalized counter, so our brand does not get lost with everybody else: on each of my counter, I can display my collection of products in a very luxurious way and offer an impeccable level of service! And you can’t expect to offer that in 15,000 stores. It is just impossible. We at By Kilian are very hands on. We travel in every store and train every sales associate ourselves.  But that’s only possible because we are present in 200 doors. Our goal is simple: we want to stay the most high-end luxury perfume brand that exists.

– Do you think that a woman should have one signature scent?

I think that a woman should have as many scents as she wishes. Personally, I believe we should all have a wardrobe of scents. Why should we limit ourselves to one perfume for the rest of our lives? I like to play with my scents the same way I play with any other accessory: shoes, ties, bags etc. And I actually always choose the perfume of the day last, according to the way I am dressed and the mood I am.

– How would you describe your style? 

Chic, sexy, timeless.

– What is the one smell you would like to capture in a fragrance which has not been done yet?

The scent of my wife’s skin!