MFN were invited along to the launch of By Kilian Fragrances in Harvey Nichols Manchester, a perfect opportunity to  have a chat with the creator, Kilian Hennessey about scents, eco luxury and the economy...

Bonjour Monsieur Hennessey. So we're here in Harvey Nichols for your first UK launch of your personal brand, By Kilian, outside London. It all looks fantastic. Could you talk our readers through the collection and the inspiration behind it?

The collection's name is“L'oeuvre au noir” (The Black Artwork) in reference to the book by Marguerite Yourcenar. The collection has three main chapters: One chapter expresses love, one chapter expresses artificial paradises, and one chapter expresses human temptations. So far there are nine scents, and the collection will be completed with ten. I don't start working on the scent with the perfumer without a name, for me it's like a script for a movie director. The name is my script, my story, that provokes an emotion and takes you in to a world of that emotion. It is that world that I try to translate into a scent.

What sets your own personal brand apart from the master perfumers you worked with and learnt from: Giorgio Armarni, Paco Rabanne, Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen?

Really, what I am trying to achieve is to go back to a world of perfume that existed in the late 19th and beginning of the 20th century, a perfume world that now you only witness in museums. The whole ambition was to go back to that level of luxury, but done in a way where it would look, feel and smell contemporary. Really, I'm trying to do perfume as an art, like it was a century ago.

To my surprise, I found the term 'eco-luxe' attributed to your products. In what ways would you claim your range is eco-friendly, and is this an issue that you're particularly interested in?

No,  really what interests me here is that when luxury is so 'apétit' and everything offered to a customer is so precious, that the customer feels that everything has a meaning, that becomes to me the ultimate eco-luxe brand because the customer doesn't want to throw away anything, therefore there is no waste. The bottle is also refillable, the only thing you have to do is go back to the store and we will refill the bottle for you for less than half the price.

You launched in 2007. Have you found the poor global economic climate to be a hindrance to your business?

No. Not even in the recession. This would be expensive for a regular perfume bottle, but it is not a regular perfume bottle. You are getting much more than a disposable, glass bottle with a sticker on it. When you put in it perspective, customers are just spending their money wisely.

At the moment you have the perfumes and the scented candles, would you ever consider expanding the size and repertoire of the By Kilian brand?

I am actually launching a new category of products at the end of the year. I want to do pieces that are close to art: a collectable item, an investment, that in thirty years you can give to your daughter. What interests me is to do real luxury, but in a contemporary, modern context. Like with the scent: it's luxurious, but it's not super-classic, it has an edge. I want to stay very exclusive so because I want my customers to look, smell and feel unique.

The latest perfumes in the By Kilian range are now available in the North West exclusively to Harvey Nichols Manchester.

Interview and images by Roisi­n Dervish-O'Kane.

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