It’s intriguing to see buzz (as opposed to hype) develop around a perfume brand. And there’s plenty of that when it comes to Maison Crivelli. Founded in 2018 by Thibaud Crivelli, the Paris-based niche company focuses on fragrances inspired by his experiences.
When Thibaud Crivelli moved to China in 2006 and lived in various Asian countries, he was exposed to raw material plantations. This has given the entrepreneur / explorer unique insights into perfumery.
Maison Crivelli arrived at South Africa’s leading niche retailer Skins Cosmetics late last year, just when I was starting to see it more on Instagram. I knew I had to interview Thibaud Crivelli after trying four of his fragrances. Please see my reviews of these at the end of this post.
Before I emailed him the questions, I had an intro Zoom chat with Thibaud Crivelli. He came across as being approachable, articulate and passionate about his company and perfume in general.
All images supplied by Maison Crivelli, except for Santal Volcanique, Bois Datchai, Absinthe Boreale and Papyrus Moleculaire, which are my own.
Travel is a popular source of inspiration in perfumery, but that’s not Maison Crivelli’s approach. How is your perspective different?
Perfume is a living experience and changes with time and different skin types. But more than this, our perception of perfume will also change depending on the environment we are in. All sensorial elements are connected and create a unique perfume experience.
“I chose not to reveal where I was to enable other people to connect with perfume and live their own personal journey.” – Thibaud Crivelli
Perfume is always personal, but sometimes it can be difficult to explain. So it was important for me to guide people into a deeper, more intimate and better understanding of perfume. The focus is not on myself, but on what other people will feel.
Each perfume is inspired by surprising experiences of discovery that I have lived. However, I chose not to reveal where I was to enable other people to connect with perfume and live their own personal journey. In addition, what matters to me is not where I am or where I go, but rather how I live each moment. The experience matters much more than the location.
When did you know you wanted to launch your own perfume house?
This has always been a childhood dream. I started to connect with perfume ingredients at a young age. I also grew up in a family of entrepreneurs as my dad is pharmacist and created his own cosmetic range.
And how did you go about it?
I started by myself and then gradually initiated collaborations with various partners (perfumers, suppliers, distributors, etc). For any entrepreneurial venture, the key aspect is to be fully aware of what we can do ourselves, and what we cannot do. For the latter, it’s vital to work with partners we trust and who understand our expectations and mission.
Have perfumes always appealed to you?
I have always had a strong connection with perfume ingredients, mostly thanks to a connection with nature across all seasons. My understanding of perfume became more accurate when I lived in Asia, as I got the opportunity to visit plantations and markets. The last step of my personal fragrance journey has been to discover more the aspect of creation.
Your wide travels have exposed you to the wonderful world of raw materials. Why are they so important to you?
Raw materials are a fundamental part of perfumery – they are the basis to work with. A deep understanding of raw materials is not essential to enjoy a fragrance. However, understanding raw materials is essential when it comes to creating and working with perfumers directly. Exploring areas where raw materials are cropped has helped me to discover them in a better and more sensorial way – not just in a technical way.
You describe your fragrances as “slow perfumes”. What do you mean by that phrase?
Taking time is an important aspect of perfume creation and discovery. We take the necessary time to remember the most surprising experiences of perfume discovery, find the best perfumers, create the scent, source the best raw materials (which are sometimes even hand-picked to preserve the best quality). Eventually we also invite everyone to take a bit more time than usual to discover perfume in a more qualitative way.
What’s been your greatest challenge since launching in 2018?
Increasing brand awareness, as there are lots of new launches every year.
You run the brand’s IG page and personally replied to my initial contact there. Is that a conscious choice? How large is your team?
We have a team of five people, but it is important for me to have direct contact with clients and the teams in the stores. I am happy to take the time to keep in touch with everyone.
“It is important for me to have direct contact with clients and the teams in the stores. I am happy to keep in touch with everyone.”
I love all the Maison Crivelli fragrances I’ve tried so far.
Papyrus Moleculaire is particularly distinctive. Why did you choose Leslie Girard to create it?
Leslie understood our brief instantly and she is very skilled at creating woody notes with long-lastingness and sillage. On top she is a lovely person and the connection has always been incredible.
INCREDIBLE CONNECTION: Leslie Girard created Papyrus Moleculaire for Maison Crivelli. Thibaud Crivelli admires her deftness with woody notes.
How do your brief the perfumers you choose to work with?
I narrate the experiences I have lived and send a mood-board composed of photographs, videos, sounds, colours and textures. The objective is to translate all the sensorial elements of that moment and encapsulate them in a perfume.
IN THE MOOD: Thibaud Crivelli’s perfumers include, clockwise from top left, Bertrand Duchaufour, Stephanie Bakouche, Nathalie Feisthauer and Dorothée Piot.
As a self-proclaimed perfectionist, what would you like to improve on Maison Crivelli?
We always do our best to work on the originality and the balance of the perfumes. The most difficult aspect is to reach the moment when the perfumer and myself both know that we have finalised the creation.
You have launched a new fragrance in February 2021. What can you tell us about it? Any other developments we should be aware of?
The new creation is named Osmanthe Kōdoshān. It is inspired by a discovery of osmanthus flowers on the slopes of a mystical mountain shrouded in mist. We will also soon launch a new collection of perfume extracts in collaboration with Quentin Bisch.
MAISON CRIVELLI REVIEWS
One would expect a fragrance inspired by “the experience of the scent of scorched sandalwood on the slopes of an erupting volcano” to be unusual and intriguing. And that’s exactly what the brand’s 2018 debut and current best-seller created by Richard Ibanez delivers in abundance. Warm spiciness (ginger and cardamom) mingles with a rich, uncompromising and almost burnt take on sandalwood that mellows with coffee absolute and musks as it develops sensually on the skin.
Maison Crivelli Papyrus Moleculaire EDP
Papyrus is a surprisingly common note in perfumery, but there’s nothing common about its treatment in this 2020 release. Leslie Girard successfully translates inspiration – “discovering papyrus root powder with a group of tattooed women smoking cigarillos” – into vibrant reality. Fresh spiciness (coriander and elemi) gives way to cuddly tobacco while the headline note is powdered and leathered to perfection.
Maison Crivelli Absinthe Boreale EDP
Absinthe’s reputation precedes it, but there’s no danger of hallucinating under the influence of this friendly 2019 release created by Nathalie Feisthauer. There’s no missing the artemisia (wormwood), the herb used to give flavour and aroma to the notorious spirit, but it’s softened with a clean mix of lavender, mint, lemon, balsam fir and musk. A beautifully cool composition that deftly balances its herbal and aromatic aspects.
Maison Crivelli Bois Datchai EDP
I often associate tea with comfort and relaxation, and that’s just what I get from this 2018 release created by Dorothée Piot. The piquant fruitiness of blackcurrant meets the spicy warmth of cinnamon, without overpowering the smokiness of the tea with sweetness. The woody forest inspiration of this scent comes through in the form of fresh cedar and earthy patchouli. Another cuppa please!
For more info on Maison Crivelli, visit the brand’s website.
I enjoyed reading the interview, and you almost sold me on the brand 🙂 I didn’t find them in the US, so I went to their website to see what they offer in terms of samples. The discovery set is quite expensive – about 47 Euro for 9 samples… but they offer to discount that price from the FB purchase, so not completely bad… until you see that 1) their free shipping conveniently starts from 50 Euro, so the set becomes 57 Euro to get and 2) even though they charge 10 Euro for the delivery to the US, they do not deduct VAT from the original price, which is one of my pet peeves. Oh, well… I’ll wait for them to get to the US, I suppose.
Great pictures though 🙂
Many thanks, dear Undina, for the kind compliment. Good to know about these extra costs, which all add up in the end. I will share your comment with Thibaud when I share the link of my post with him.
Dear Undina, many thanks for your comments. Indeed the perfumes are not yet sold in the US and all shipments are made from Europe. This explains why we cannot offer free delivery for the purchase of a sample set yet. Free delivery is proposed for 30ml and 100ml sizes. Most people who purchase the discovery set also purchase a 100ml bottle eventually, so the offer is a good mechanism to try the whole collection. Hope you will get the opportunity to sample the perfumes.
Many thanks, Thibaud, for replying to Undina.
Fantastic overview, Rich. Always great to read about the people behind the brand. Great pics too.
Many thanks, Daniel. Great to discover Maison Crivelli and to get to know more about it from Thibaud.
Skeptic as I was that truly textural fragrances were most likely a bridge much too far, I waited till 2022 when Maison Crivelli’s collection came to the USA to seek out information on the house’s creator and try them.
Mea culpa Thibaud…and to each and every talented perfumer you led to achieve your oh so mindful vision of textural fragrances! Ones that evocatively capture multi-sensorial phenomena…of places, terroirs and the unusual iconic facets..found when exploring the very diverse cultures our world offers…so very different from most of our homes.
After traipsing through nigh on 40 countries, I can reliably testify about how evocatively you’ve shared the multi-dimensional character of the moments you experienced.
I also owe a debt to Mark Behnke for this discovery. It was his commendation that convinced me to take a leap of faith with Maison Crivelli: “What is surprising in perfumery are the outliers. Creative Directors with such clarity of vision they can work with any perfumer. The ability to draw out exactly what you want from a perfumer is the essence of the very best of creative directors. In a mere couple of years Thibaud Crivelli has shown he is most decidedly one of these.”
Despite all the advancements in niche perfumery, I never expected anyone would achieve the breathtaking and intriguingly beautiful smells that are so delightfully reminiscent of the places and events Thibaud chose to reflect.
Perfumistas be warned…you won’t be indifferent to this collection. Each and every Maison Crivelli fragrance is a treasure in its own right. I find it difficult to choose a single favorite. So many of Maison Crivelli’s treasures are worth the investment, I quite look forward to the pleasure of adding a large number of them to my personal fragrance wardrobe over time.
Hello Caitlenn, and thank you so much for this detailed comment about Maison Crivelli and its founder Thibaud Crivelli. I’ve tried many new niche brands in recent years and it’s one of the standouts. All the perfumers he works with interpret his experiences in such imaginative ways. I’m going to forward your comment to Thibaud. I’m sure he’d love to read it.
Hi Caitlenn thank you very much for your positive words. it means a lot! The credit goes to the perfumers I work with. I am so happy of the friendship I have built with them, and we understand each other so well. As you know perfume development is a complex journey, and it is only with great partnerships that we can accomplish great things. 🙂