Serge Lutens

Serge Lutens is a visionary French make-up artist, photographer, filmmaker, hair stylist, perfumer, art director and fashion designer. Having collaborated with Richard Avedon and Diana Vreeland on some of the most arresting editorial images of the 1960s, masterminded the first ever designer makeup line for Christian Dior at the dawn of the ’70s, dreamed up the stunning campaigns that put Shiseido on the map in the ’80s, and effectively invented niche perfumery with the release of Féminité du bois and launch of his boutique in Palais Royal (Paris), which has been a magnet for those in search of the world’s most exclusive and mythologized fragrances since it opened in 1992.

Christopher Sheldrake had originally planned to become an architect until a visit to France profoundly reoriented the trajectory of his life’s path. While in Grasse, he fell in love with perfumery and never looked back. Sheldrake was at Chanel before spending 23 years at Quest International. Leaving Quest in 2005, just before the company’s change of ownership, he returned to Chanel as Director of Research & Development for Fragrance. Since the early 1990s, Sheldrake has collaborated with Serge Lutens, and is credited as the creator of nearly all of the fragrances in Lutens’ extensive and bold range of offerings. His work continues to leave an inarguable impact on the direction of the culture and industry of fragrance.