Cécile Zarokian

Cecile Zarokian is a perfumer and CEO based in Paris who founded her independent creative studio in 2011. Today, she leads a team of seven people and has created hundreds of fragrances for prestigious brands in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. With 20 years of experience in the perfume industry, she began her career with four years of training at Robertet, where she composed her first fragrance, Epic Woman for Amouage in 2009 — a bold debut that remains to this day a worldwide best seller. A graduate of ISIPCA, the internationally renowned perfumery training school, Cecile has since become known for her intuitive and visionary approach to perfumery. She constantly pushes the boundaries with creations that are not only artistic, but also commercially iconic. In 2019, she broke into the Brazilian fragrance market, which is highly concentrated and competitive — the second-largest in the world. She became the first and only independent perfumer to collaborate with Granado, the historic cult brand leading in Brazil (minority-owned by Puig). During the pandemic, she secured a new local partnership with a major fragrance house. The result of this collaboration, the Bossa franchise launched in late 2020 for its 150th anniversary, was hailed as “the sun-scented fragrance the Brazilian market was missing”, and has become Granado’s best-selling success. « Bossa is one of the fragrances that best represents Granado perfumery and has been a best seller since its launch in all markets where it was introduced, both in Brazil and abroad,” says Sissi Freeman, Director of Marketing and Sales at Granado. Cecile’s prolific portfolio with Amouage (minority-owned by L’Oréal) is another testament to her bold signature. She is the only independent perfumer who has worked with the brand, and together they have created more than ten fragrances for the House — all of which have become commercial successes and award-winning creations: including Material (finalist in the Fragrance Foundation France Awards 2022), Opus XIV Royal Tobacco (Fragrance Foundation Award USA 2023…), and Outlands (Marie Claire Prix International du Parfum 2024), which she created as part of the The Essences collection and which sold out worldwide in less than 24 hours. A milestone for Amouage and Outlands has also been recognised for “establishing a new benchmark in Haute Perfumerie”. In 2018, she created Ani for Nishane, which became the brand’s best seller and a pillar in its global growth. Her success led to the launch of Ani X in 2023, celebrating Nishane’s tenth anniversary. These enduring collaborations reflect Cecile’s ability to build long-term creative relationships based on trust, performance and a shared vision. Beyond perfume creation, Cecile offers consulting services in olfactory branding and the development of olfactory identity, working with industry leaders such as the renowned international spirits groups Pernod-Ricard and Suntory. She also designs immersive, multisensory experiences and leads masterclasses and workshops around the world. Although rooted in niche perfumery, today her creative vision resonates far beyond it. High-fashion houses, international groups and designer brands now turn to her for her unique creativity. They value her unique artistic voice and entrust her with projects in which she successfully competes with the 5 most important fragrance houses. These collaborations, spanning continents and cultures, show her unique ability to forge a meaningful and distinctive narrative in a highly competitive landscape. Her ambition and dreams, her tireless energy and her hard work have turned her into a true force for change in the perfume industry. A pioneer in both spirit and execution, Cecile Zarokian has etched her name among the most influential voices in contemporary perfumery. Alongside her commercial achievements, Cecile remains deeply connected to the artistic side of perfumery. Early in her career, she co-created [IP]01, an interdisciplinary project correlating fragrance and illustration. The resulting exhibition travelled across Europe: Paris (2011), London (2013) and the Triennale di Milano (2014). This fundamental connection between art and perfumery remains a distinctive hallmark of Cecile’s creative process. Her unique way of capturing the authenticity of each Maison continues to shape her creative ethos: always going one step further to build emotion, meaning and legacy, fragrance after fragrance. More than a perfumer, Cecile Zarokian has redefined the rules of the game, reshuffled the cards and opened up a new path in the world of perfumery.