Love Without
Detour

(Scents)

Fifteen minutes is not a lot of time, especially when you are sitting across from someone whose work unfolds in layers, in molecules, in memories, and in nuances that resist speed.

In conversations, 15 minutes are often barely enough to scratch the surface. In perfumery, it is a span that feels almost absurdly short. And yet, sometimes, a simple quarter hour is sufficient to sense a way of thinking, to recognize a temperament, to understand whether someone is working with trends—or with time.

When I arranged to meet Yann Vasnier, the perfumer behind Valentino’s new scent “Amour sans detour,” the intention was not to collect soundbites or manufacture quotable moments. It was about opening a small but meaningful window into how one of the most thoughtful noses of our generation approaches creation, responsibility, and emotion.

Before we even sat down, there was a brief, almost accidental moment. I smelled the fragrance on the palm of another interviewer’s hand—a passing gesture, unplanned and unstaged. And yet the scent lingered—not because it was loud or demonstrative, but precisely because it wasn’t.

It felt like a quiet liaison between present and future, between what we recognize and what is still forming, between familiarity and possibility. In that instant, the fragrance stopped being a product and became a prelude—an invitation to conversation rather than a call for attention.

The Perfumer
Yann Vasnier does not fit the image of the contemporary “star perfumer.” His career has been built less on visibility than on consistency, technical depth, and long-term thinking.

Trained in France, Vasnier developed his craft at the intersection of classical perfumery and modern molecular research. Today, he is among the leading perfumers at Givaudan, one of the world’s most influential fragrance and flavor houses.

Over the past two decades, Vasnier has created compositions across niche and mainstream that are characterized by strong structure, material precision, and a clear architectural logic.

For him, perfumery is not about speed or instant effect. It is about construction over time, about iteration, and about allowing ideas to mature. Emotion emerges from technique.

The Conversation

Yann Vasnier Did you smell the fragrance?

Maison Ë I just had it on the palm of the previous interviewer. Yes, it’s quite surprising. I wasn’t expecting this level of depth in something more commercial.

Y.V. Exactly.

M.Ë You have a strong sense of slowness and depth in your work—which can also be seen in your research and in your approach to scent. How do you bring this level of craftsmanship into an industry that moves so quickly?

Y.V. The good thing with Valentino is that we had time. This fragrance took many years to develop. Finding the right balance between the themes—leather is not easy, nor is violet— requires patience. Every facet was polished and crafted. Nothing was rushed.

M.Ë So time is essential to your process.

Y.V. Yes, especially because the first fragrances were already in development. This one came later, so we had more space. Sometimes you don’t need much more time. But usually, the more time you have, the more precise your work becomes.

M.Ë Let’s go deeper. Your work feels both very emotional and very structured. Where does intuition end and construction begin for you?

Y.V. When we started with leather and violet, the direction was very clear: lightness and smoothness. So yes, it became quite technical. It was about bringing light, smoothing things, polishing. A big part was working on the musks—increasing their volume to create sensuality, softness, and addictiveness on the skin. The more we refined this part, the more balanced and polished the fragrance became.

M.Ë So the technical work serves the emotional vision.

Y.V. Exactly. Technique is not there to dominate. It is there to support what you want people to feel.

M.Ë Should a perfume reflect its era and culture?

Y.V. It’s always a balance. We have to move forward. We have to modernize ideas. If you think of violet in the past, it was very sweet and sugary. Leather could be very dark, very heavy. Today, we reinterpret these codes. We try to create something timeless—but never nostalgic. When we smell vintage fragrances now, many are beautiful, but difficult to wear. They are too animalic, too intense. We have to respect the present.

M.Ë I agree. I believe that every fragrance captures the sentiment of its time. Which leads me to my final question. What is the responsibility of creating something invisible, yet enduring?

Y.V. It’s again about balance. We have responsibility, yes, but we are not alone in this. We are not the final decision-makers. We don’t decide when something is launched. Our clients also shape the result. Responsibility is shared.