The Legendary Nose Behind Gucci Mémoire d'une Odeur Explains Why It Defies Boundaries
Alberto Morillas is a legend in the orbit of contemporary perfumery. Throughout a half-century of industry-changing experience, he’s created more than 500 perfumes for a slew of fashion and fragrance houses, crafting a legacy of unforgettable smells. With decades of iconic fragrances under his belt, chances are you know several of his creations well, be it by name or by the associations that arise upon encountering the scents.
Now, Morillas is crafting a groundbreaking new legacy alongside Gucci, for which he has been collaborating with Alessandro Michele since 2017. Following the releases of Gucci Guilty Absolute and Gucci Bloom, he drew the outlines of Gucci Mémoire d’une Odeur, a poetic, emancipated, and romantic wonder that evokes true sensory splendor. Its literal meaning—the memory of a scent—provides a deep insight into the fragrance's evocative nature, and the face of it is none other than Harry Styles, who has the world wrapped around his finger with his free spirit and immense talent. To learn more about Gucci Mémoire d'une Odeur's revolutionary concept and unique creation process, we got Morilla's perspective on working with Michele, using classic notes in new ways, and seeing it all come together with Styles at the center.
How is working with Alessandro Michele?
It’s a really unique relationship. He decides to confide his emotions to me to put me on the trail of a new smell, a new sensation. He gives me his indications. He has a very rich olfactory culture. He collects perfumes and wears many. He also has very precise knowledge of the market, without this data entering into our exchanges.
For example, when I created Gucci Guilty Absolute, he wanted it to capture the smell of Gucci’s leather goods workshops. He was not quoting perfumes already made, but emotions. I offered him four ways, and he said, "That’s exactly how I felt when I was working in the workshop." Then we worked on Gucci Bloom, for which he asked me to create an imaginary garden, so I worked with French, English, and Italian garden fragrances in mind. I had strange flowers in my head, with a slightly poisonous, mysterious side. Gucci Bloom gives the feeling of entering a magical, imaginary world. Working with Alessandro goes very fast; once he has regained his emotion, he considers it over.
Gucci Mémoire d’une Odeur is particularly singular. How was it created?
The process was much more complicated because he asked me to build a smell around chamomile, an ingredient that has always been used in perfumery, but with light traces or small inflections. It took a year and a half because he always wanted more chamomile, and it’s difficult because in perfumery, we’re very conventional. It’s complicated to impose upon a smell an emotion or a memory. So I asked all the teams to do some research, because chamomile must have a particular quality here, not to mention an infusion. It was necessary to make sure that there was enough material to compose the perfume. Gucci Mémoire d’une Odeur has a marked olfactory presence, but it doesn’t bother Alessandro. In the microcosm of perfumery, everyone talks about it: finally, a product that goes off the beaten track!
Everyone copies themselves by adding a little bergamot here and there. We were driven here by the desire to be different, but never disturbing. The first five minutes after trying it, people sometimes find it strange, but once the chamomile has evaporated a little, people really like what’s left on the skin and clothes, because there’s a mineral, very sensual dimension. And on the skin, this accord of floral, jasmine, and musk has a very mysterious connotation. You want to know more; you are very intrigued. The perfume is there to create an impression of mystery. Each skin develops it differently because there is a lot of musk, with a very floral dimension.
How do you explain its uniqueness?
It expresses a great freedom; it is not exclusively for this or that gender. It’s a very Gucci fragrance, which really represents Alessandro. He makes decisions [in the way he does] when he creates a collection, and you can't please everyone. This perfume breaks many codes; I have seen that several perfumery awards have already rewarded it.
Harry Styles is the face of the campaign.
When I create a perfume, I know nothing about the communication that will accompany it. I more or less knew who the muse would be, but it was not yet certain. When you see the whole campaign, you understand the perfume better. You find the mineral side embodied by the castle, the primitive aspect expressed by the earth, the fire...the communication is as intriguing as the perfume. There is no specific rule.
Do you follow Michele's collections closely?
I attend all his shows. But Alessandro’s world is not only his collections; it is his style, and it is above all his studio in Rome. Each time, he gives me almost an hour of his time, which is a lot for him, and I am in his world, surrounded by very strange, unusual objects. Because perfume is not like a collection, it is not circumscribed at a specific time. When I create a perfume [for Gucci], it all comes from Alessandro, capturing his personality in an essence.
How do you work? Alone? A team?
I live in Geneva; it’s my zero point. I have set up my laboratory there. I have employees in Paris and New York. I work alone for Gucci. The perfumes are really the result of my work with Alessandro. The materials I choose are validated by him because you can’t work with a whole marketing team around them. The bond must be very intense; that's what makes the strength of our creations. If we take the opinion of 50 people, we have 50 flavors. When he created Gucci Bloom, everyone thought that floral was “very extreme.” But that’s exactly what he wanted.
Does he provide you with samples? Essences?
Never. He offers me associations, tracks, flower associations, perfumes that he wore when he was younger or those worn by his mother or aunt. He doesn’t say, “I’d like to work with a male like that.” He wants to be surprised. It’s like looking for a stone for jewelry. You’re trying to find an emerald that’s different from all the others. It’s a whole construction that requires a lot of work from me, and I work almost exclusively for him.
What is your favorite part of the creation process?
When he calls me with new ideas. It’s very exciting to see what he wants to do, what research he wants me to do. He never shows me an element; he rather evokes memories and emotions. He doesn’t give a subject, until now, with a precise material, but he already has ideas for colors for the bottle, all the small details.
What was the first smell that struck you?
I am Spanish, so maybe the first olfactory emotion I remember is the smell of water. In Seville in the 1960s, the smell of the patio in the morning, the aquatic smell of cleanliness and renewal, the life associated with the scents of orange blossom and jasmine. The smell of the well. Water on a lawn and on foliage, water from a fountain, everyone feels it differently. What I've been looking for in my perfumes for 50 years is this kind of fluidity. Even in fragrances that are very dense or dark, there must always be a breath inside. And unconsciously, I associate it with heaven.
