This month featured the unveiling of the latest happening boutique in Paris’ most picturesque neighborhood, Le Marais—the second store of By Kilian in Paris. Fashion Network caught up with the founder.
The 25-square-meter space is one of those very small bijoux boutiques that only the French quite know how to produce, with the unique twist that it is centered around a very stylish bar.
“We had a lady come in two days ago, and she wanted to buy some liquor. ‘But madame, I do hope you understand we are in a perfume store.’ But she still didn’t seem to get it,” laughs founder Kilian Hennessy loudly.
Joking aside, it’s a highly elegant shop that smartly displays the world of By Kilian, one of the hottest niche perfume houses on the planet.
“Every store revolves around its center—the bar, where we offer guidance and consultation. We also have a discovery bar where customers can discover scents on their own, without our staff. On Saturday, we had two staff in the store and 160 customers. So, they need to be able to play on their own,” smiles Kilian.
By Kilian’s other store is located on Rue Cambon, opposite Chanel’s historic HQ, underlining the brand’s high-end positioning.
“When we decided to open a second, the debate was either the 5th arrondissement near Au Bon Marché or the Marais. We are here because I always felt my customers were more alive, younger, and happening like people here. And, frankly, we have been doing very well!”
The Marais store also boasts a refill wall since By Kilian has always sold refillable bottles since the brand’s birth in 2007. There is also a liquor cabinet with five scents, ranging from Old Fashioned or Apple Brandy to the brand’s best-selling fragrance, Angel’s Share.
“It’s my olfactive memory of the Hennessy cognac cellars and my most personal scent,” smiles Kilian as everyone refers to him.
The scion of the famed Hennessy cognac family—whose ancestor Richard Hennessy came to France in the 1740s—this is one nose that clearly gets a kick out of his unexpected inspirations. Declaring of another liquor scent: “Roses on Ice is inspired by Hendrick’s Gin since the idea came from the owner’s garden as they wanted to make a very British gin. So, they had English roses, cucumbers, and juniper. And when I discovered that, hmmmm, I thought that is an accord in itself.”
His grandfather—also Kilian—was a key player in the early days of the creation of giant luxury group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which is why Kilian’s brand name is By Kilian. At one stage, Kilian created a scent named L’Heure Verte before renaming it Fièvre Verte after LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault’s attorneys objected to its proximity to L’Heure Bleue from Guerlain, another LVMH brand.
Kilian launched his brand with six scents, three of which are still Liaisons Dangereuses, Good Girls Gone Bad, and Straight to Heaven. Each bottle is made of fine glass with a medieval shield print on the sides. “Because I believe that each scent is as much about protection as seduction,” he intones.
Like all serious perfumers, Kilian sources hundreds of ingredients worldwide—vanilla from Madagascar, patchouli from Malaysia, and jasmine from India. His scents are produced by the leading four “juice” suppliers—companies like Givaudan and Firmenich—which then ship the finished product to By Kilian’s distribution center. In 2017, Kilian sold his brand to Estée Lauder, although he remained the brand’s creative director.
“Accounting and finance used to be a big part of my life, but not anymore. Now, I handle product creation, store design, communication, and marketing,” he smiles.
Kilian first got the idea of becoming a perfumer “by luck” when he wrote his thesis on scents in business school after doing an internship at Kenzo Perfume. Researching the subject, he went to a nose school and was, well, smitten. After graduating, he was hired by one of the men he interviewed for his thesis—Jacques Cavallier, at the time with Firmenich and today the nose of Louis Vuitton. “Jacques became my teacher and my mentor,” he recalls. Changing jobs every three years, Kilian went on to create scents like Ultraviolet for Paco Rabanne, Kingdom for Alexander McQueen, and Armani Code for L’Oréal.
“But I was not happy with what I was doing. I was not proud. There were too many cooks in the kitchen. Too many compromises,” he recalls.
This led him to set up his own brand, which he fully financed.
He hates to define the DNA of By Kilian, starting to say, “It’s luxury,” before asking his PR lady to respond. She adds: “It’s French heritage, craft and savoir-faire. Initially, we were night.”
The brand has always embodied a sense of haute gamme — high-end, stylishly self-indulgent partying. His ads capture gals in skinny black leather, cocktails in the back of limousines, or scantily dressed beauties nursing a sunset cocktail. Or Kilian himself, like a Latin Lothario—signature high-collar shirt open three buttons, smoking a cigar. “I guess that’s my lifestyle. I like to have a good time,” cackles Kilian, whose number two best-selling fragrance is Good Girls Gone Bad. Go figure.
Back when Kilian launched his brand, he “was hanging in Hotel Costes, and a little in Castel, and later in New York at Omar. That was really my hangout. Boutique style, chic with cool people.” He was referring to Omar’s La Ranita, where owner Omar Hernandez drew a celebrity-studded crowd, including Madonna, Marc Jacobs, Katy Perry, and Bella Hadid. Kilian would drink Moscow Mules in summer and, mais bien sûr, Hennessy XO on the rocks in winter.
The company’s next business step is a Bath & Body line in September and a Home line in November. The first will offer top scents such as body lotion and shower gel. Home will include three candles and three scents, all completely new.
Is there any chance of a By Kilian hotel? “That’s a good question, but I don’t think it’s in the Lauders’ plans. Actually, I went to the Bulgari Hotel in Tokyo, and I found it the most extraordinary hotel. So, yes, I would loooove the idea of doing a hotel.”
Worldwide, By Kilian has 32 free-standing boutiques, compared to just three when Estée Lauder acquired control. Meanwhile, the number of retail doors has skyrocketed to 1,700. Given By Kilian’s price point, that suggests a highly robust business. A 50ml bottle of the best-selling Angel’s Share is priced at €245, while the same scent in a 250ml decanter-style bottle is priced at €800. Estée Lauder refuses to disclose By Kilian’s annual revenues, but they are estimated at upwards of €50 million.
When not working, this nose is a global traveler, with recent vacations in Tokyo, Tuscany, and sailing in the Ionian Islands—Lord Byron’s old haunt, suitable for a man with Byronic dark looks. And like the great British poet, he is something of a ladies’ man, known for his sartorial tastes and self-conscious sense of style. During our half-hour talk, Kilian preened in the store’s various mirrors four times. Though of Irish origin, there is little of the Irish about him in manner except for the occasional Celtic twinkle in his eyes.
Three years after launching his brand, he moved to Tribeca, New York, for ten years, commuting back to Paris every two weeks to see his two kids from his first marriage—now aged 21 and 22.
“I have never thought of myself as living in one place. Today, my base is in Andalusia, but I travel a lottttt,” notes Kilian.
When we meet, the whip-thin Kilian is wearing an elegant, streamlined midnight blue seersucker jacket by Hermès.
“My third wife is 34 years old, and I have to keep up!” he concludes, flicking back his hair.
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