Christophe Laudamiel | The Zoo
Bare & Bond
What makes each of your perfumes special?
Christophe Laudamiel
They all have very different personalities like you dive each time into a different world. The very reason why they each have very different labels. Just like visiting a zoo: you have the exotic kingdom, you have the cute-everyone-loves-it creature, you have the night time birds or bats in darkrooms. You are each time transported by a different enchantment.
Bare & Bond
What kind of activity or occasion do you imagine is best suited to each scent?
Christophe Laudamiel
Rhubarb My Love for sport, to go work, in the morning at home or at “real work”, for planes and trains, or just to feel clean after the shower or at the spa resort.
Vetyver Rain is more sexy, still very fresh but lots of sensuality. Is a perfume (EdP) but feels like very natural at the same time and it does contain a lot of naturals.
Everlasting is definitely more for evening or for winter. I cannot see myself spraying it in the morning when it is already 30C outside.
Bare & Bond
Is fragrance important? If yes, why do you think we care so much about it?
Christophe Laudamiel
Fragrance is as important, if not more, as wearing comfortable, light, beautiful or simple clothing. It is a feeling of completion, or an extra mood all of a sudden applied that overrides the mood you had right before spraying. And usually, it is for a better, that is at least what we make sure happens with each time you spray The Zoo fragrances. You relive immediately an enchantment or being strong and ready for a mission.
Bare & Bond
Who or what inspired you to become a perfumer?
Christophe Laudamiel
The coupling of emotions, art and chemistry molecules.
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What’s the story behind your brand? How did it come to be?
Christophe Laudamiel
I wanted to show fragrances that I have created and am creating just from my ideas, regrouping esthetics and quirky facts. People are not aware of most of what perfumery can do. What we see in commercial perfumery is only 20% of what can be done in perfumery. The Zoo shows other avenues of inspirations, of ways of creating, of special ingredients, of simple stories. A Pop Collection That Pops.
Bare & Bond
What do you think makes your brand special or unique?
Christophe Laudamiel
We have many features that are extremely unique: The vintage of the oil is indicated on the bottle. A 2-year vintage is still considered fresh in perfumery. The version number is indicated on the bottle as well. If I modify a formula in the future for whatever reason, the user will be informed. Each bottle is signed by myself in printing and the name of the second perfumer is also indicated when I create them with a colleague.
We respect perfumery first, then business: meaning some of those oils are extremely expensive and would not be allowed even in many niche fragrances, certainly not in commercial perfumery, but I want the consumer to have access to those as well. This means some of The Zoo perfumes cannot be sold in different countries, like Smile & Shine cannot be sold in China (too much natural Lemon and Lime for their laws). I am not reworking to damage an ingredient because a country is dragging a stupid leftover law.
Bare & Bond
Describe your brand’s perfume personality
Christophe Laudamiel
A Pop Collection That Pops
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What has been the most exciting moment in your perfume career?
Christophe Laudamiel
I have two most exciting moments if you don’t mind. One when I invented new fragrance molecules that didn’t exist on the planet, and then another when I with my colleagues won Polo Blue for Men. The largest launch of a men’s fragrance ever, and maybe to this day actually.
Bare & Bond
What has been the toughest moment in your perfume career?
Christophe Laudamiel
The last 3 years because although DreamAir, (my company that owns The Zoo) is 10 years old this year, I had a major restart 3-4 years ago, restarting at a start-up stage. This whole DreamAir enterprise is a unique thing in the history of perfumery.
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Are there any irritating beliefs about perfume that you wish would just go away?
Christophe Laudamiel
TONS, at all levels, don’t eeeeven get me started. That is a book in itself.
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Finally, what advice do you have for people looking for a new fragrance?
Christophe Laudamiel
Spray them on yourself, in the same way that you taste a precious chocolate praline. You decide first what you’ll spray, or what you’ll order (don’t order or get for free 20 samples in one go, you can’t go through them properly). Read a bit about them to order 2 to 5, or go to stores: by just smelling first the cap of many and select which ones to put on a smelling strip say 5 to 10, you can also select 2 to 5. Then only the ones you have really selected will you put on your skin. It is a privilege for a fragrance to be sprayed on skin. That is how we should think. Putting on your skin is a precious activity, requires concentration and no contamination and is a “moment”. The best is one a day. 2 a day is also OK, one on each arm. Like after 2 chocolates, you are full and cannot appreciate or depreciate properly.