Perfumes de Alberto Morillas

Alberto Morillas is a renowned Spanish perfumer who has created some of the world’s most iconic fragrances. He was born in Seville, Spain, in 1950, but moved to Switzerland at the age of ten. Morillas studied for two years at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Geneva and began working in perfumery at 20, after being inspired by an article in Vogue about the French perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain.

In 1970, Morillas joined the Swiss fragrances and flavours firm Firmenich, where he established himself with the creation of Must de Cartier in 1975, the first fragrance from the jewellery house Cartier. Since then, Morillas has participated in, or contributed to, the creation of almost 7000 perfumes for the company, including the iconic Calvin Klein CK One, Giorgio Armani Acqua di Giò for women, Kenzo Flower, Bvlgari Omnia, Cartier Panthere de Cartier and Marc Jacobs Daisy.

Morillas is also the founder of his independent line called Mizensir, which began with aromatic candles and has since expanded to include 17 perfumes. In collaboration with Penhaligon’s, Morillas also offers a bespoke perfumery service called Bespoke by Alberto Morillas, based in the Salon de Parfum of the department store Harrods in London.

Throughout his career, Morillas has won numerous awards for his creations, including the prestigious Prix François Coty in 2003. He currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland, after periods living in Paris and New York.

Morillas has a passion for the Mediterranean Sea and is particularly connected to the scent of citrus, marine notes and flowers such as jasmine, nard, neroli and orange blossom. He is also inspired by gardens, spending a great deal of time in the family garden in Geneva. Morillas believes the future of the fragrance industry is positive, as more and more people are becoming fragrance experts and brands offer different narratives around creation.

“Perfumery is the mirror of society. I am the artist who interprets these emotions,” he says.

Morillas has stated that creating a fragrance is an art, a very personal and creative exercise. He often works on more than twenty different fragrances at any one time and has described the importance of training the nose and building a “smell bank” to improve the appreciation of fragrances. Morillas is particularly fond of the note of rose, but also enjoys exploring different musks and the scent of orange blossom during spring in his home city of Seville.