Perfumer

Fabrice Pellegrin

The nose behind Diptyque's Do Son and Jean Paul Gaultier's Scandal

Nationality: French
Born: Grasse, France
Training: Robertet, Grasse (1989–1995) — raw materials, chromatography, distillation and extraction; also trained under his father and perfumer Michèle Saramito
House: dsm-firmenich

Photo: SAFAUB — Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In our database
17
fragrances
Active since
1995
Houses
12
worked with
Recognition
3
awards

Fabrice Pellegrin was born and raised in Grasse, the historic capital of French perfumery, into a family already steeped in the trade: his father, Georges Pellegrin, worked as a perfumer at Robertet, while earlier generations picked jasmine and supplied natural raw materials to the local industry. That upbringing put him in close contact with raw-material production long before he trained as a perfumer himself.

After his baccalaureate, Pellegrin joined Robertet in 1989, spending roughly six years learning the handling of raw materials, chromatography, distillation and extraction from the ground up. In 1995 he moved to Mane as a junior perfumer, working for over a decade there — including early personal-care work — before establishing himself in fine fragrance, notably through a long-running collaboration with Diptyque that produced Do Son, Eau Duelle and Volutes. In 2008 he joined Firmenich (now part of dsm-firmenich), where he has combined composing fragrances in Paris with directing innovation in natural raw materials out of the company's Grasse laboratories.

Across his career he has composed for a wide range of houses, including Thierry Mugler (Womanity), Jo Malone (Blackberry & Bay, Velvet Rose & Oud), Azzaro (Wanted), Jean Paul Gaultier (Scandal), Hermès, L'Artisan Parfumeur, Courrèges, Essential Parfums, Roos & Roos and By Kilian, among others. He is best known for his command of woods, spices and Grasse-grown naturals such as rose centifolia, and for building compositions around a concrete narrative or personal memory rather than an abstract brief.

His work has been recognized within the industry more than once: he was named Perfumer of the Year at Cosmétique Mag's annual awards in 2017, the same year a Fragrance Foundation award went to Roos & Roos' Mentha Religiosa, and in 2021 his peers honored his career with the 14th François Coty Prize.