Interview with Kilian Hennessy and Lucien Laviscount: In a Powerful, Confident and Old Fashioned Way

The real beauty and uniqueness of fragrances, is that they are out of time and space.
They are in a dimension where memories from the past, possibilities of the present and hopes for the future coexist: that’s real the power of scents besides, obviously, enhancing who we are and boosting our confidence. That’s something that Kilian Hennessy, founder of of Kilian Paris, knows very well, and to further underline that concept, he just launched Old Fashioned, a sophisticated fragrance with whiskey accords from the Scottish Highlands, what and Cedarwood.

Together with Kilian himself and Lucien Laviscount, the first brand ambassador of Kilian Paris, we embarked on a journey to experience fragrances, the importance of living our life with joy and artistry in a old, but timeless, fashioned way.

The Liquors, an absolutely unique collection. Every bottle of perfume evokes a place, a taste, a moment of life. What are the place, the taste and the moment that Old Fashioned reminds you of?

K: Scotland. My son went to boarding school in Scotland and I went to visit him during the two years he was there. I visited whiskey refineries there, and the first whiskey olfactive memory I have is from that time.

Lucien, what’s your first olfactive memory?

L: The smell of fresh cut grass in the morning, in springtime, when I was in school because I knew school was around the corner, which was not the best thing, but at the same time, it was the first days of summer.

What was the inspiration behind this new perfume that specifically fascinated you?

K: As you know, the Liquor collection is all inspired by hard liquor: Angel’s Share was inspired by cognac, by my olfactive memory of Hennessy cognac; Roses on Ice was inspired by the Hendricks gin, which is a British gin, and it was interesting because the gardener of the owners had the idea of this spirit with juniper berries, roses from the garden and cucumber, two very British ingredients. From a perfume standpoint, cucumber, roses and juniper berries already make a perfume accord, so that gave birth to Roses on Ice. For Old Fashioned the inspiration is obviously whiskey.

In the world of perfume, we don’t have a lot of ingredients that come from liquor – we don’t have gin, vodka, and all those essences – but we do have rum, which is the same one that I used in a lot of my scents, and it’s in overdose in Old Fashioned because it gives the liquor-vanilla effect that I wanted, but in combination with absolute wheat, which is the key ingredient for whiskey.

The opening of the scent has this whiskey effect coming from the combination of Wheat Absolute and rum.

Lucien, you are the ambassador for Old Fashioned by Kilian Paris. How does this new collaboration inspire you and how did it feel to try this new creation for the first time?

L: I was completely on it from the beginning.

Getting to understand Kilian, his work ethic, his desire to create and his undoubting drive were inspiring in themselves. Then, the scent on top of that was magical, so to be in this very privileged position, makes me feel over the moon, also to share a country, to share a room with him, and to call him my friend.

“In the world of perfume, we don’t have a lot of ingredients that come from liquor – we don’t have gin, vodka, and all those essences – but we do have rum, which is the same one that I used in a lot of my scents, and it’s in overdose in Old Fashioned.”

What role does fragrance play in your everyday life?

L: It has much more of an effect on my life than I could have imagined, it’s probably at the front of my mind a lot more when I’m preparing a character for a role, getting through old memories and things like that. I think it definitely puts a stamp on time for me, and something that isn’t just an accessory becomes part of my DNA. If a scent resonates with a certain person, the memories come back with that.

Perfume has a big impact on who we are and how we perceive people, I think, it leaves such an imprint on people’s lives, it’s timeless, it is important and it makes you feel how you feel.

K: I like this take on the concept of time because it’s crazy how you can be entering a bar, or crossing someone in the street and their smell, maybe you don’t even know what scent it is, but it takes you back to when you were 14 years old, in an instant. Only scent can take you back to a moment in life you have completely forgotten, and you don’t even think about anymore.

L: With food, you can describe emotion, maybe, but it comes and goes, while scent has such a long-lasting impact.

Kilian Paris is always ahead of time but with a look at the past, mirroring this in our daily life. And this new creation has also vintage vibes. How was the process of creating it?

K: The bottle was created 4 or 5 years ago for the launch of Angel’s Share, and it came after I completely redesigned all my stores. Trying to capture the essence of my heritage, Hennessy cognac, into a store concept is how we came to the bar concept, but when the bar was finished, I needed products to fill the bar! That’s why I created the Carafe, and then the Liquor collection. For Old Fashioned, the idea was a whiskey flask.

Lucien, where does Old Fashioned transport you?

L: It elevates my want to be better.

It transports me to a state of progression, where I want to be. I don’t think it necessarily takes me to a specific place, but a place I’m searching for, in a powerful, confident way.

One curiosity: given the unique inspiration behind the collection The Liquors, what’s your favorite liquor?

K: It’s my most personal one because it is the olfactive memory of the Hennessy cognac cellar when my grandfather was taking me to the cellars. I remember I was looking at all those bottles from 1907, so it’s associated with a very fond memory.

“It transports me to a state of progression, where I want to be. I don’t think it necessarily takes me to a specific place, but a place I’m searching for, in a powerful, confident way.”

What does it mean to you to feel comfortable in your own skin?

K: I think that the ultimate goal in life is to learn to accept the cards you have been dealt with, and add in the new cards you get.

I love how people always want to know more about life, about themselves. I see a big difference between people who are limited in their own certainties and think they know everything about everything and those who question everything, including themselves. For me, it’s curiosity because there’s so much beauty in this world, and so many places to visit.

Some people are just happy in their little world and feel like they know everything, and some people question everything and want to discover everything, and I love those people.

L: For so long I didn’t understand why people could be the way they are, and then you realize you can’t control people, you can’t control how you feel within your own skin.

It’s everything, it’s what gets you up in the morning, what makes you happy and joyous to be alive, knowing that you’re becoming more comfortable in your skin, with who you are and who you want to be. Being confident and being happy makes other people happy and brings joy to their lives, and that’s the biggest gift you can get, and that in turn can make you feel happy within yourself.

Kilian, what’s the latest thing you discovered about yourself?

K: There’s a scent that I’m creating now that’s making me discover things. Sometimes, you are in a territory where you’re very confident about what you want to achieve, and sometimes you enter an olfactive territory where you feel like that is not your most comfortable territory. Sometimes I know it’s a place in the olfactive map where I haven’t offered my customers a scent, but it’s not my favorite part of the olfactive map, and still, it is an important place.

With this specific scent, I have learned to accept more ideas coming from the team I’m working with, which is very hard for me [laughs].

Lucien, how do beauty and cinema meet and then come together in your life? Does the world of beauty and fragrance inspire your experience on and off film sets?

L: Yeah, I think it’s the craftsmanship, the artistry that goes in behind it. I remember when Kilian showed me how long it takes for a perfume to be made, and there’s great respect for that. Perfume is impactful in so many ways, from the artistry within the acting world, the perception of it on the screen up to the people being able to watch it. I admire the great dedication that comes with that. I feel like anyone who’s dedicated to any sort of craft can get it.