Olivier Polge, Jean-Claude Ellena, Mathilde Laurent… Do you know these in-house perfumers?

In September 2013, Olivier Polge becomes Chanel’s new in-house perfumer. He’s taking over from his father, Jacques Polge, perfumer at Chanel since 1978.

But what exactly is an in-house perfumer anyway? Sometimes just called the house perfumer, an in-house perfumer is someone who creates fragrances exclusively for a single house.  

Most houses don’t have in-house perfumers; they call on a range of out-of-house perfumers, and they might use a different one for each fragrance they launch.

Aside from Chanel, do you know which other houses have their own in-house perfumers?

At Dior,François Demachy has been the house perfumer since 2006. Among his most recent creations in Gris Montaigne.

Cartier recruited Mathilde Laurent to design their fragrances. Baiser Volé is her best-known scent at Cartier, as well as the niche line, Les Heures de Parfum.

Thierry Wasseris the first in-house perfumer at Guerlain who is not a member of the Guerlain family.

Over at Rochas, the in-house perfumer is Jean-Michel Duriez. We have him to thank for the new Cascades line.

Jean-Claude Ellenais Hermès’s house perfumer. Known for his poetic, pared-down writing – of fragrances of course – he has started writing books, too!

In 2012, Louis Vuitton hired Jacques Cavallier as their in-house perfumer. But it’s too soon to say what his creations for the house will be.

Thomas Fontaineis the perfumer at Jean Patou, while Patricia de Nicolaï is Nicolaï’s perfumer-designer. At Parfum d’Empire, the perfumer-designer is Marc-Antoine Corticchiato.

At Annick Goutal, Isabelle Doyen designs their fragrances in collaboration with Camille Goutal. From time to time, Isabelle Doyen will also design for other brands. A few other in-house perfumers do that too.

So that gives you an overview – although the list is by no means exhaustive – and, like at Chanel just now, things can change!

What about you, who’s your favorite perfumer? Why is that?