Anne Flipo – Effervescent, Curious, Hedonist, Always In Search Of New Challenges

Underneath The Surface

Sensitive and subtle, Anne Flipo’s perfumes can be defined as an eloquence of style that stems from a passion for flowers and gardens…

An awakening of the senses

Far from the perfumeries of Grasse, it was in Picardy, where she spent her childhood surrounded by the fragrances of wild flowers, well groomed flowerbeds and well cared for vegetable gardens, that her olfactive sensitivity started to develop. “That’s where I learned about nature and the basics of an art of living made up of simple pleasures; I was fascinated by nature and have wonderful memories of family cooking and cake making, not forgetting my love for music, an essential part of my personal stability” she says.

The discovery of a vocation

This came much later and “it was just a question of luck”, Anne points out with the sincerity which is so distinctively hers. After the Baccalaureate, she went to ISIPCA and it was during her apprenticeship when she learned to memorise the properties of raw materials that she discovered the magic of essential oils and their evocative power. Infected by the perfume virus, it became a real love affair—with a dedication and vitality which have never left her.

Then came her first steps in the professional world of perfume, contact with people who would become important for her and the development of her own style of creation; she started out at Dalaire, Florasynth and Creations Aromatiques, and then put the finishing touches to her formulas alongside Jean-Louis Sieuzac, Michel Almairace and other master perfumers whose virtuosity she still admires.

Charabot, and then her work with Pamela Roberts and Marie Dumont for L’Artisan Parfumeur provided her with some of her first solo successes. Carefully and unpretentiously, she has confirmed her style, a totally natural range of delicate nuances conjured up from memory, carefully analysed and reinterpreted. Today, at IFF, her know-how is being taken a step further by gaining greater knowledge in high tech materials and perfume composition: “I finally let myself go, I am so much more relaxed and believe in my own intuition at last.” she says.

The art of approach

For a long time devoted to the world of feminine fragrance, she has now put her talent to work in the composition of masculine fragrance “it was difficult for me at first to get into this type of perfumery. Now I am totally at home, she says, it’s a whole new territory with a lot of potential and I realised that it can be extremely fulfilling and create tremendous enthusiasm and drive”.

Enthusiasm and drive, basic essentials for this perfumer who sees her profession as a game where the rules change all the time: “you have to understand what a client is looking for to the point where it becomes your own, you soak in the spirit of a project, study it from every angle: perfume is an eternal challenge where you have to confront the imperfection of things. As long as there is still a sensation of the unaccomplished – everything remains possible, it’s the same principle in life”.

Effervescent, curious, very much a hedonist, always in search of new challenges, Anne admits she has a taste for solitude—something you would never guess from her openness and warmth. “Solitude is not conducive to inspiration. You need more than just yourself as a catalyst … I like to be alone but at the same time I need people around me so I can continue to enrich my knowledge and learn new things all the time. Perfume starts with the people and things around you, with language: words and emotions are our primary materials.”

Designation: VP Perfumer, International Flavors & Fragrances, Paris

List of fragrances conceived: