
Interview with Camille Goutal, Artistic Director Annick Goutal Parfums
By: Michelyn Camen

Annick Goutal Parfums is one of the original independent niche perfumeries, created in the 1980s by the legendary Annick Goutal. In this interview with the Company’s Artistic Consultant Camille Goutal, (Ms. Goutal’s daughter) we get an insider’s view of the complex relationships between scent and memory, tradition and innovation and mother and daughters, as well as Camille Goutal’s personal memories of one of the most innovative and influential women of modern fragrance.
Please give our readers a brief overiew of Annick Goutal Parfums
Camille Goutal: Annick Goutal is a Perfumery House, guided by the values of its creator and characterized by its remarkable sophistication and the excellent quality of its raw materials. Annick Goutal’s secret lies in its talent for transforming emotions into fragrances. Each unique creation represents a moment of happiness, a treasured emotion, or a powerful memory connected to a significant event or even a loved one.
What is your first olfactive memory?
Camille Goutal: Growing up with my mother, every moment was tied to scent. Whether it was hours spent playing in the lab experiencing each raw ingredient, or walking the lavender fields. Scent is a part of every memory.

Annick Goutal was the first woman to lead niche perfumery... what is your favorite memory of your mother?
Camille Goutal: I remember having breakfast in bed with my mother on Sunday mornings and cuddling up against her. I loved the smell of coffee and toasted bread in our house, the feeling of calm and happiness.
Did you always wanted to be in the family business?
Camille Goutal: I first wanted to become a photographer but fragrance was also a passion for me at a very young age. I involved myself in the creative process as much as I could.

How has the brand changed over the years, continuing to flourish when there are thousands of new offerings introduced and discontinued every year?
Camille Goutal: People have a passionate love for the brand. Each fragrance has stood the test of time because they speak so clearly to the women and men that covet them. The company has always been a labor of love, and I believe that clients can sense that.
What is your signature fragrance? What was Annick's?
Camille Goutal: If I had to pick one, I would say Songes. It was the first scent that I created. I love white flowers and powdery scents.
My mother was fond of roses, and created Ce Soir ou Jamais in their honor. This perfume was her dream and her quest.

What inspired last year’s ‘scent-sational’ collection… Les Orientalistes?
Camille Goutal: It was mainly the rough material. My inspiration came from materials: the texture of an oriental fabric, the resine ingredients and the color used in the oriental paintings. I was fascinated by the fact that the orientalist painters use their imagination to depict a harem scene as they were not allowed to enter in a harem. They were in the same spirit state than we are when we compose. I was also touched by the sensuality depicted in the oriental paintings and I wanted to create very sensual and warm perfumes.
What role does perfume play in our memories and in our lives. Which fragrance from the Annick Goutal line expresses this best?
Camille Goutal: As you probably know our perfumes are the reflection of our lives, the people we met, and the people we love. We launch a perfume when we have finally succeeded to describe the emotion we have chosen. I find it really interesting when people, wearing my creation, share my feelings! You convey a message. I am so pleased when I see mothers buying Petite Cherie (little darling) for their daughters. It is the same love declaration that my mother did to me when created this perfume.

Please tell the story of Petite Cherie...
Camille Goutal: My mother created this perfume for me when I was 20 to mark the special time in life when a girl becomes a young woman. Petite Cherie or “my little darling,” is a fresh combination of fruity and floral ingredients including peach, musk rose, pear, fresh cut grass and vanilla. The fragrance was created as a symbol of a mother’s love for her child.
Do you have a daughter? If so is she interested in perfumery?
Camille Goutal: I have 2 daughters. They're 6 and 9 and like wearing perfumes. They steal mine in our bathroom as soon as I turn my back... Especially the little one who literally "bathes" herself in Vanille Exquise...
Un Matin d’Orage is your newest fragrance created with the assistance of Perfumer Isabelle Doyen. What was its inspiration?
Camille Goutal: Imagine yourself in a Japanese garden - not a Buddhist Zen-type place, but a real garden with lots of greenery - and smell the plants, leaves and white flowers after a storm as the sun creates a scented mist.
What is next?
Camille Goutal: We are continuing to develop Annick Goutal into a lifestyle brand beyond fragrance; we are expanding our skincare in 2009. Within the next two years we will be introducing an Annick Goutal cosmetics line, extending the brand into Potpourri, household linens and jewelry co-designed by Virginie Monroe are also in the works. We will be busy!

Writer’s Note: I have been wearing Heure Exquise Eau de Parfum since its creation in 1984. With its rich orris and rose heart notes and powdery sandalwood drydown, it is as quintessentially elegant and modern today as it was twenty five years ago.
Author: Michelyn Camen
Michelyn Camen is a New York City based Fragrance Specialist and a Contributor to Fragrantica. In addition, she is the Fragrance Columnist/Diversions for http://www.uptownsocial.net.
Michelyn is the former Senior Contributing Writer for Sniffapalooza Magazine, New in Niche Columnist for Basenotes and Editorial Director/Fragrance Editor for Beauty News NYC & LA
Ms. Camen provides personalized fragrance consultations based on body chemistry, psychology, fashion and lifestyle and is a consultant for luxury perfumers and fragrance companies. She may be contacted @ fifthsensenyc@aol.com
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Article comments:
add commentBut I can only get it in Europe, so I have a scent mule (lol) bring me back a bottle once a year.



Thanks

My current favorite LBD is Roja Dove's Unspoken
but if it is a sleeveless lbd with plunging neckline that is another story.
Enjoy your day. what do you like to wear?
memechose

The Encens Flamboyant you have been talking about also sounds interesting - is it frankincense-y? I have to get to a large store to try these all on!

Thank you so much for steering me to Les Orientalistes. I am going to try them all. This is so much fun! Thank you for answering my question there is so much fragrance information out there it is hard to keep up with everything new! What is your favorite LBD fragrance of all time or am I crazy for classifying it that way? To me some fragrances just paint pictures of women in white linen having tea! LBD - Not! Do you have an LBD fragrance?
Gail


For smoky notes you should try Les Orientalistes, they are all different, my favorite is Encens Flamboyant.
Another interesting one is Mandragore, rooty-earthy ;o)

Do they have anything smoky and mysterious?
Thanks
Gigi

It should be a fragrance that lifts you up, today or ten yars from now and enhances your personal chemistry.
I would think one of the fresh florals like Folavril,Un Matin d'Orage and your Eau de Ciel, could be your LBD. i am leaning to eau de Ciel, so stock up :)
Have you sampled many Annick Goutal fragrances?
Michelyn

My wife wears Songes. My daughter's 13th birthday is in a week , so we are going to buy her Petite Cherie and tell her that it is a reminder of the closeness of our family.

Gigi
PS Thank you
PPS Thank you Thank you



I have loved Goutal fragrances for years but I was not aware of the complexities behind their creation. To me summer is not summer without the delicious scents of Un Matin D'Orage and Eau de Ciel which sadly is no longer available.
This was a great interview!
I do have a question though which of the Goutal fragrances would be the perfect Little Black Dress fragrance for summer and also for winter? (I live in little black dresses)
Thanks!
Gigi




Once again we see bloodlines run true in perfume families. Goutal is not as famous as Guerlain or even Roudnitska but perhaps it should be.
I have enjoyed the recent releases of Encens Flamboyant from Les Orientalistes and Un Matin D'Orage both of which show the evolution of Annick Goutal. I think the Annick Goutal name is in very good hands due to Camille's efforts.
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