Overview
Rodrigo Flores-Roux
The nose behind Clinique Happy and Tom Ford's Neroli Portofino
- Nationality
- Mexican
- Born
- 1969 · Mexico City, Mexico
- Training
- ISIPCA (Institut Supérieur International du Parfum, de la Cosmétique et de l'Aromatique Alimentaire), Versailles, France
- House
- Givaudan
- 13In database
- 18Houses
- 6Recognition
- 8.6Top rated
Biography
Rodrigo Flores-Roux is a Mexican perfumer, born and raised in Mexico City, who arrived at the craft by way of a biology degree rather than a straight line into the industry. In 1989, at age twenty, he left Mexico for France to train at ISIPCA, the perfumery school in Versailles, at a time when Mexican-born noses were essentially unheard of in international fragrance creation.
He returned home and began working professionally in 1991, starting out composing scents for shampoos and mass cosmetics rather than fine fragrance. His breakout came a few years later with Clinique's Happy (1997), a commercial hit that put his name on the map and set the tone for a career that has moved comfortably between mainstream and niche work ever since.
Flores-Roux is now a senior perfumer and vice president of fragrance creation at Givaudan, working out of the company's New York studio. His client list spans Tom Ford (Neroli Portofino, Ébène Fumé), John Varvatos, Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, Carolina Herrera, DKNY, Hugo Boss, Estée Lauder and Elizabeth Arden on the designer side, and indie houses such as Arquiste, Kilian, and House of Bō on the niche side. He has described his own sensibility as maximalist rather than minimalist, building compositions he calls 'chatty' and layered instead of quiet or restrained, with recurring returns to jasmine, leather, citrus, green tea, and botanicals tied to his Mexican upbringing.
His output has been recognized repeatedly by the Fragrance Foundation Awards, including a Perfume Extraordinaire of the Year win for Tom Ford's Ébène Fumé in 2022, plus category wins spanning both indie and mainstream fragrance through the 2010s and into the 2020s.
Signature works
6 of 13Notes & accords
- jasmine
- leather
- citrus
- green tea
- iris/orris
- musk
- rose
- bergamot
Milestones
- 2016Fragrance Foundation Award – Indie Fragrance of the Year (Kilian Voulez-vous Coucher Avec Moi)
- 2017Fragrance Foundation Award – Indie Fragrance of the Year (Diana Vreeland Parfums Outrageous Simply Divine)
- 2018ÇaFleureBon Editor's Perfumer of the Year
- 2019Fragrance Foundation Award – Fragrance of the Year, Women's Popular (Ariana Grande Cloud)
- 2020Fragrance Foundation Award – Innovative Fragrance Product of the Year (Thom Browne 09.27.65 Vetyver Absolute)
- 2022Fragrance Foundation Award – Perfume Extraordinaire of the Year (Tom Ford Ébène Fumé)
Every fragrance by Rodrigo13
Neroli Portofino
Tom Ford9 collectorsFougere Royale (2010)
Houbigant2 collectorsFougère Royale
Houbigant8.61 collectorPossession
Wilgermain1 collectorSahara Noir
Tom Ford1 collectorÉbène Fumé
Tom Ford1 collectorBronze Goddess
Estée LauderIn the catalogChampaca Absolute
Tom FordIn the catalogFleur de Chine
Tom FordIn the catalogFleur de Portofino
Tom FordIn the catalogJasmin Rouge
Tom FordIn the catalogMyrrhe Mystère
Tom FordIn the catalogNeroli Portofino Forte
Tom FordIn the catalog