Elodie Durande is the nose behind Ffern. Together with Owen Mears, the founder of Ffern, and his sister Emily Cameron, the creative director, the team conceive and develop each seasonal scent.
Elodie trained in Montpellier and is the protégé of François Robert, a fourth generation master perfumer and descendant of the venerable Robert perfume dynasty. François and Elodie, who met in Grasse, began as the dual noses behind Ffern but in more recent years Elodie has taken the lead.
As Ffern’s in-house head nose, Elodie is fuelled by a passion for experimental and innovative natural perfumery.
François is the fourth in a line of master perfumers, who have earned the reputation as being perfume’s royal family.
It all started with Joseph Robert, François’ great grandfather. Joseph was a chemist, and perfumery tutor to the renowned François Coty. Working from Grasse (the capital of the perfume world) in 1884, he developed a process for extracting absolutes (pure perfume oils) from natural ingredients.
The invention had a phenomenal impact on the world of natural perfumery. It opened up a plethora of ingredients that were stronger and more diverse than anything seen before.
The son of a natural perfumery icon, Henri wasted no time in cementing the family’s reputation. At age 20, he joined his father, then head perfumer at Antoine Chiris (perhaps the greatest perfume house of all time), working alongside Ernest Beau and Henri Alméras. In 1923, he became head nose at perfumes D’Orsay; in 1934 he returned as head nose at the house of Coty; finally, in 1952, he took over from his one time colleague Beau as second ever head nose at Chanel.
By this time, François’ own father, Guy, had taken up the family mantle. Raised in Grasse, Guy joined Henri in New York, working for Coty in the early 40’s, before returning to Paris where he became the city’s most sought after, and most prolific, nose.
Through the second half of the 19th century Guy created hit after hit; Hermès Doblis, Rochas Madame Rochas, Hermès Calèche, Dior Diorressence, Gucci No 1, Gucci Pour Homme and Amouage Gold included.
It came as no surprise to the family, then, that at age 14 a young François announced his intention to become a great nose. His formal training began immediately, at the house of Rochas, and he has been pushing the boundaries of modern perfume ever since.
In need of a protégé to continue the work of the Roberts - a new custodian of their family secrets - François’ curiosity was piqued by a promising young student at the school of perfumery in Montpellier.
Elodie Durande, he noted, had an extraordinary nose - and an extraordinary propensity for natural perfumery (a very particular balancing skill given the complexity of natural oils).
So impressed, in fact, was François’ by Elodie’s talent, he invited her to come and train with him in Brighton.
As Elodie has evolved into a bold and innovative nose with a reputation for taming the wildest of naturals, so too their partnership has evolved.
François’ wealth of experience and razor sharp nose meets Elodie’s passion for naturals and creative drive; it is a partnership perfectly suited to our work at Ffern.
At Ffern, we seek to draw from the best of perfume’s past and combine it with our new vision for perfume’s future. We want to restore the artisanship that perfumery once was, and build what perfumery will become.