Fine Fragrance: Meet Amandine Clerc Marie

Biography

Modest at her core, Amandine Clerc Marie, would rather not talk about herself. She has been familiar with the world of fragrance for as long as she can remember; her mother worked in the perfume industry. And, Amandine’s own career came about quite naturally. During her apprenticeship, while learning about raw materials, her “sense of taste suddenly came to life.” The memory still leaves her heady. At the end of her studies at ISIPCA, she wrote a thesis on modernizing the leather note in the fragrance “Bel Ami” and it was at this point that she met Michel Almairac. They would go on to work together for more than ten years, until Amandine joined Firmenich in 2011.

Amandine loves the process of creating a fragrance, the action and then the manufacturing. She loves looking for an idea, sketching a preparatory outline and then seeing the whole thing come together. She is a very visual person and can always picture what she wants to produce. What makes her tick? Movement, colors and shapes. She also has a strong desire to have projects. She moves house, refurbishes, redecorates, and then when she has finished… she moves again! She needs to be on the move. She could well have been an architect. “Just like perfume formulas, in architecture you have to create solid foundations upon which to build a structure.” It is all about building to create emotion. Amandine often follows her heart and openly admits her passion for shoes and handbags, to the point of addiction. In fact, she refuses to count them. The measured perfumer gives way to the spontaneous women.

Amandine’s inquiring mind and energy means that she is always travelling. With her husband and her two sons, she has visited Brazil, Thailand, Croatia and Morocco. “It’s important to show them the world,” she says. Nomadic by nature, Amandine is at home wherever she goes as long as she has her loved ones with her.