SOPHIE LABBE

If there is one thing that characterizes Sophie Labbé, it is her smile. Wherever she is, whether at your side or across the world, her smile can be felt instantly, by its warmth on her face, by the intonation of her voice or by the choice of her words. For Sophie, smiling is a state of mind, a symbol of the positivity that explains who she is and her way of looking at the world. You can feel the caring, playfulness and generosity that also exists in her creations. In her smile, you can also read the joy when she speaks of her memories of childhood. Sophie grew up between Paris and Charente-Maritime, her roots a mix of the excitement of the French capital and the calm of the countryside’s long rows of grape vines.

From these playgrounds, Sophie has retained the magic of contrasts and the love of the land which she transposes by sublimating a rose from Grasse or a neroli from Tunisia with an unexpected harmony. She also acquired a taste for the transmission of values and gestures where the smallest detail requires attention. Cultivating a garden takes on its full meaning with Sophie, who often compares the art of perfumery with that of gardening.

“Composing a perfume and working the soil both require patience. These are cultures where a long process of maturation produces a beautiful creation. We take the time to observe, listen and feel. Then comes the moment when the idea is there. The right composition or the note that concludes the composition. This is when you have to grab it, as if you were picking ripe fruit or tasting mature wine,” she says.

In perfumery, certain meetings were decisive for Sophie. This was the case, for example, from her very first exchange with perfumer Jean Kerléo. In 1985, he introduced her to a world whose wonders resonated with her own roots and values. Shortly after graduating with a degree in chemistry, Sophie joined perfume school Isipca. She graduated top of her class in 1987, which marked the beginning of her career, during which she spent 5 years at Givaudan, then 27 years at IFF, before joining Firmenich in 2019.

Today, when she needs an escape, Sophie delves into the pages of a novel, her favorites being those by Japanese author Aki Shimazaki whose works she devours, or she closes her eyes and imagines herself again on France’s wild coast. Facing the ocean, she breathes the smell of salt on the immortelle bushes sensing an urge to run into the sea. When summer comes, she explores the horizon from a catamaran or travels through Italy, one of her favorite destinations. She loves rediscovering Tuscan landscapes; cities that are museums, where each facade is a piece of history; and the fashions of talented Italian designers. Each trip is an inspiration and the beginning of a new story. A story that is born from a conversation, a succession of images, reading, or simply from the discovery of a new ingredient whose fragrance is a promise of creation.