Perfumer
Christine Nagel
Christine Nagel is a renowned Swiss perfumer who currently works as Director of Olfactive Creation at Hermès Parfums. Born on 7 October 1959, Nagel grew up in Geneva, Switzerland, and became fascinated by perfumery from an early age. She began her academic career by studying medicine with the aim of becoming a midwife, but later discovered her true passion for chemistry, which ultimately led her to take an interest in the world of perfume.
After completing her studies in organic chemistry, Nagel began her career in the research department of the Swiss fragrance company Firmenich. She was fascinated by the strong emotional reactions that her colleague’s work caused in the women who smelled it. Her colleague was Alberto Morillas, one of the giants of the perfume industry. However, when Nagel asked to be transferred to the perfumery section, she was refused due to her lack of traditional training. She then switched to chromatography, where she examined fragrances and their ingredient recipes at a molecular level, becoming one of the few people in the world trained to recognise ingredients using only her nose.
After some time at Firmenich, Nagel moved to Italy to start her own business. Within a year, she held 60% of Italy’s perfume contracts, including work for Fendi and Versace. She moved to Paris in 1997, where she began creating designer perfume hits such as Narciso Rodriguez for Her (2003, with Francis Kurkdjian) and Miss Dior Chérie (2005). Nagel has also created 46 perfumes for Jo Malone, including Wood Sage & Sea Salt, one of her most notable creations.
In 2014, Nagel joined Hermès as Director of Olfactive Creation, working alongside Jean-Claude Ellena, who had become the house’s first perfumer in 2004. In 2016, Ellena retired and Nagel became Hermès’s only in-house perfumer. Since then, she has created several fragrances for the brand, including Galop (2016) and Twilly (2017), among others.
Nagel has been recognised with awards from the Fragrance Foundation France, the François Coty Foundation and the Marie Claire International Fragrance Awards. She is married to Benoit Lapouza, who is also a perfumer, and they have three children.
Throughout her career, Nagel has demonstrated a creative preference for compositions characterised by simplicity, reflecting her philosophy. She believes that gender in perfume is an endless debate and that anyone can wear the fragrance they like, even if it is supposedly "masculine" or "feminine". Nagel is inspired by the creativity of perfumers and the distinctive personality of their aromas. Among contemporary perfumers, she mentions Morillas and Dominique Ropion as notable influences, but saves a special place for the pioneering perfumer Germaine Cellier, creator of historic fragrances such as Fracas and Bandit.
