Raised in Paris by parents who were scientists, Florian seemed destined to become an engineer. But his curiosity for tastes and flavors would soon get the better of him. As a young boy, he would watch his mother cook with great interest. Being of Armenian origin, she played with spices in the kitchen, -cumin, paprika, nutmeg-… a delicate dance that would soon inspire him to put together his own recipes as early as ten years old. His childhood memories are of his family traveling to the highlands around Cannes for the holidays, where mimosas would be in full bloom, or to Grasse, where he would spend time visiting local perfumeries. 

After graduating from high school, Florian began studying science, but he never gave up his love for perfume. After a series of summer internships in the Grasse region, including one in  which he participated in the jasmine harvest, Florian set his mind on becoming a professional perfumer. He joined the ISIPCA fragrance school in 2012, then joined the Robertet school in Grasse where he became passionate about natural materials. 

At the age of 25, Robertet sent him to Buenos Aires for a year. Argentina’s markets awakened his love of discovery. Then, after a short while, Florian was hired by dsm-firmenich to be the first perfumer to head its Fine Fragrance Workshop in Shanghai. His tireless enthusiasm endeared him to the local team, whom he managed with the energy of a start-up. “In the West, caramel might be considered a gourmand note, while the young Chinese think of tea or  cereals. There is a great freedom to the creative process here,” he says.

Florian’s favorite ingredients include woods, like vetiver and cedar, and smoky or leathery  scents. He is especially fascinated by the spicy animal tones of natural oud, though he also sings praises of the synthetic Ambrox molecule, which gives off a deep sensuality.

A true millennial resolutely turned towards the future, Florian lives the values of this society in full effervescence and is enthusiastic about new technologies that enrich his perfumer’s palette, about artificial intelligence that he evokes as a powerful generator of ideas, and about the latest advances in sensory studies that allow to better understand the powers of a  perfume on the emotions it provokes.

In 2019, Florian won the International Perfumer -Creator award from the Société Française des  Parfumeurs (SFP), for a tobacco-themed composition rounded off with a hint of Rhum. An important recognition in his eyes. “I draw my creativity from my emotions as well as from the beauty of certain raw materials”.

Florian says he is very sensitive and fully embraces it because, in his profession, he knows that this quality is a strength that allows him to express his deepest emotions.