It’s a bit bold to ask a master perfumer what they’d be if they weren’t one—especially when that perfumer is Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud, a man responsible for some of the most renowned fragrance launches over the last four decades. But the Parisian gamely replies, “I would be the president of France, the mayor of positivity!”
“Perfumery is how I express myself, but I would’ve been an artist creating something anyway. Something that expresses the thoughts and feelings of others because I think what unifies people is emotions,” he muses. “My job today is to create perfumes and positive vibes. It’s a gift that I'm grateful I get to do every day.”
A third-generation perfumer from Grasse—the world’s perfume capital—Cavallier-Belletrud grew up surrounded by scent. One of his earliest memories dates back to when he was just five, watching his father sniff blotting strips. “I was quite surprised to see my father smelling things instead of eating them,” he recalls with a laugh. “He handed me a blotter, and it was the scent of roses from Grasse.”
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Cavallier-Belletrud spent his childhood summers working in perfume factories in his hometown. By the time he was 10, he had already begun building an encyclopaedic knowledge of fragrance. This deep expertise led him to roles at Charabot, Quest International, and PFW Aroma Chemicals B.V., before a pivotal chapter at Firmenich from 1990 to 2012. There, he created some of the most iconic perfumes of our time, including Issey Miyake’s L’Eau d’Issey (1992), Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium pour Homme (1995), and Dior’s Midnight Poison (2007), the latter in collaboration with François Demachy and Olivier Cresp.
Today, he captures the essence of Louis Vuitton’s savoir-faire as the House’s master perfumer—a role he’s held for more than a decade. When it comes to his creative process, he shares: “To be a creator, you need to be curious. It’s important to be inspired by everything around you. For me, anything that stirs the emotions, I capture it in my mind and translate it into scent.”
In a world as refined as haute perfumery, I was curious—are there any unspoken rules a veteran like him follows or enjoys breaking? “In my mind, I’m still 14 years old, so I’m always breaking the rules,” he jests. “But if you want to be in the luxury business, you must respect your clients. The first rule—one you can never break—is to use the finest and most beautiful ingredients nature has to offer, and to translate the vision in your mind as precisely as possible. The second is to never settle; always search for new ways to interpret and elevate artistic inspiration.” As for what breaking the rules looks like to him? “It means blending cultures, taking the best from each, and creating something unexpected—something I hope you’ll enjoy.”
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He’s chatting with me over Zoom to talk about the newly launched eLVes Louis Vuitton (pronounced Elles), which I had the privilege of smelling before everyone else. For this new creation which I can best describe as oriental-floral, Cavallier-Belletrud looked at using different materials to complement the modern woman. Opening with vibrant top notes of ginger, black currant, and cinnamon, the perfume reveals a heart of lily of the valley, violet, coconut milk, Bulgarian rose absolute, and CO2-extracted Centifolia rose—sustainably harvested and exclusive to Louis Vuitton. These luminous florals are grounded by a warm base of patchouli and Ambroxan, a dry, musky amber molecule.
Elegantly floral yet bold and perfect for day or night wear, this scent is a radiant celebration of femininity in all its multi-dimensional facets. “I’m obsessed with translating emotions into perfumes,” Cavallier-Belletrud adds. “I’ve created many scents over the last 40 years, but eLVes is my vision of femininity for today and for tomorrow—free, independent, and self-defined, far removed from the caricatures of 40 or 50 years ago.”
“This idea lived in my head for a long time; I had the time to mature it,” he continues. “The challenge was balancing the soft bouquet with the power, the strength, and the sillage (the trail of scent created by a perfume when worn on the skin). While not difficult, I paid a lot of attention to creating the right balance for it to be an attractive scent.” His tip on how to wear it? “However you like,” he says with a smile. Though, he demonstrates his own signature application—behind the ear and outer left hand.
Every fragrance has its specific muse, an embodiment of who the perfume represents and desires to attract. But, for Cavallier-Belletrud, eLVes Louis Vuitton is inspired by all kinds of women. “Through my journey of discovering different countries and people all over the world, I always found women possessing this touching, sensitive way of discussing and expressing themselves. There could be billions of muses as femininity is not one specific character—it’s eternal and universal.”
A constant request from his clients is for perfumes to contain a higher concentration of premium ingredients, ones that last all day. “All of them, specifically in Asia, demand much more in terms of the perfume's quality and performance. If the quality is there, money is no object,” he says. “We now have a mature market who are aware and want to understand what we're saying as well as experiment with scents. If it doesn’t deliver, they’ll be disappointed.“
He continues: “The success of a perfume depends on that partly because when others are smelling those perfumes on other people and asking, ‘What perfume is that?’ ‘It’s Louis Vuitton’ and they’ll go, ‘Oh, they do perfumes? Okay, I’ll go there.’ We have lots of clients coming to our stores and discovering our fragrances because of someone else. The best advertising is the perfume itself.”
With eLVes Louis Vuitton and the upcoming launch of La Beauté Louis Vuitton—the brand’s first foray into make-up helmed by none other than Pat McGrath—there is much to be excited about on the beauty front. As for what’s next in the world of Louis Vuitton fragrances, Cavallier-Belletrud simply replies, “Our quest is to go beyond and surprise every time. We intend to deliver new tones and perfumes with fantastic, high-quality raw materials. So, expect many projects ahead.”
eLVes Louis Vuitton EDP is available at Louis Vuitton stores and on its website.