Frank Voelkl

No, not all of today's perfumers were born in Grasse, the world capital of perfumery! Some come from other horizons and draw their creativity from their everyday life, from travel, from the people they meet. Such is the case of Frank Voelkl, perfumer at Firmenich in New York and famous for his collaboration with the house Le Labo. A look back at his journey, his sources of inspiration and his fragrances.

While nothing predestined Frank Voelkl to become a perfumer…

Frank Voelkl is a creator who was born far from the world of perfume. He originally comes from Bonn, in Germany. He spent the first years of his life there before moving to the Netherlands and then to Paris. Nevertheless, he remembers his childhood spent on his uncle's farm, in Germany. He keeps happy memories from that time, from which he has also retained a few scent memories. He was then constantly surrounded by the scents of nature: hay, animals in pastures, and wildflowers. However, it was not at that moment that Frank Voelkl decided to become a perfumer. That came to him in Paris, when he was a teenager. Indeed, for him Paris is a place where fragrance is celebrated as an art. From then on, he was fascinated by the number of perfumeries found on the Rue de Rivoli. He spent hours there smelling and discovering scents. This game gradually became a genuine passion, so much so that he decided to make it his profession.

Frank Voelkl's professional journey

Frank Voelkl's very first fragrance was created in 1995. Frank Voelkl had just moved to New York, where he met Sylvie De Chantecaille, for whom he created this fragrance. He then began working for the company Symrise before joining, later, in 2005, the Firmenich workshops. He currently holds the position of senior perfumer. Nevertheless, Frank Voelkl's career has above all been marked by a collaboration with the house Le Labo. Frank Voelkl met Fabrice Penot, co-founder of Le Labo, in 2002. It was at that time that the two of them began working together. From then on, this collaboration never stopped. Frank Voelkl has created numerous conceptual creations for Le Labo. He is deeply involved in the development process of the company. He is behind its finest creations and even created a fragrance named Santal 33 from the scent of a candle.

As you will have understood, Frank Voelkl is a particularly bold character. A perfectionist and highly demanding, respect and authenticity are among Frank Voelkl's core values. Such is the recipe for his success. His fragrances manage to make themselves known without any advertising or promotion. It seems that the people who discover them simply become hooked to the point of talking about them and serving their image better than anyone else could.