“I like to work in a very quiet and quite dark environment,” Francis Kurkdjian tells us. “It helps me focus on the sense of smell.” Much like his favour of a stark environment when creating, Kurkdjian takes on a serious tone when speaking about fragrances and the art of perfumery. Beneath the cutting veneer, Kurkdjian’s soul is one of an artist—free-flowing and fuelled by emotions and storytelling.
After over five years as Parfums Christian Dior’s perfume creation director, Kurkdjian has taken the challenge of creating a scent inspired by a true icon of the House: the Dior Saddle bag. He quickly dispels the notion that crafting Cuir Saddle (French for “Saddle leather”) was a unique challenge because to him the act of creation itself is a challenge. “If you think about creation, it is always challenging. Otherwise, it's just a repetition. If you see no challenge in creativity, it really means that you're repeating yourself in something you've done already,” Kurkdjian explains. And no one certainly could ever accuse him of repetition.
Cuir Saddle takes reference from the Dior Saddle bag in a number of ways. Kurkdjian notes the way that the Saddle bag is typically carried—worn crossbody as per the menswear variations or clasped close under the arm where it hugs the contours of the body. The bag’s riding saddle-inspired shape prompted Kurkdjian to craft a scent that’s as unconventional as when John Galliano first debuted the bag in the 2000s. And of course, the bag’s multiple leather variations led to him building the fragrance with a leather accord.
Kurkdjian calls Cuir Saddle a “trompe-lœil leather perfume”. What he means is that the perfume defies what one immediately thinks of when experiencing a leather-inspired fragrance. Cuir Saddle may seem classic at first with its charred smoky and woody accord, but there’s a lightness that comes through which makes for a surprising and unexpected touch. The final fragrance was a culmination of around 40 to 50 experiments, Kurkdjian tells us.
How Kurkdjian approached crafting Cuir Saddle is how an artisan would craft a leather creation. The idea of Cuir Saddle is almost like a different treatment to leather. The intention was to make it more supple for a feel that’s soft and velvety like suede, yet still staying true to the effect of it being leather.
“We all use the same instrument,” Kurkdjian explains, citing classical composers the likes of Bach, Mozart, and Debussy as parallel examples. “But we are all able to basically create something new, because to create something new is not about having new tools; very often it's about looking at things with a new perspective. It's not necessarily about new materials all the time. It's also just how the way you see something. You look at things, and if you look at the back of something that already exists, it's a different perspective and you give a new vision to it. So sometimes it's just all about that. And Cuir Saddle is about that.”
The fragrance is also the latest expression of La Collection Privée, a collection that Kurkdjian has been in charge of since his appointment and one that he sees as embodying the soul of the House. Cuir Saddle is the first leather perfume Kurkdjian has created for the collection. It fills the gap that was left when a prior leather perfume (Cuir Cannage) was discontinued before he came onboard.
Like its inspiration, a limited-edition case specially crafted for the travel-friendly format of Cuir Saddle, is decorated with elements of the icon. Supple, matte leather wraps around the bottle with the stirrup-inspired details dangling on the front. Additionally, La Collection Privée’s selection of Couture Caps expand with the Cuir Saddle detailing in the same hue and leather.
It remains to be seen if Cuir Saddle will be as emblematic as the Dior Saddle bag. And it’s definitely too early to determine. “Time will tell, you know? Time will tell. Lately, I think about time, you know, it's not about something that you do right away. It takes time, you need time,” says Kurkdjian succinctly.
