About
Cecile Zarokian is a Paris-based perfumer and CEO who founded her independent creative studio in 2011. Today, she leads a team of seven and has created hundreds of fragrances for prestigious brands across Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. With 20 years of experience in the perfume industry, she began her career with a four-year training at Robertet, where she composed her first fragrance, Epic Woman for Amouage in 2009 — a bold debut that remains, to this day, a global bestseller.
A graduate of ISIPCA, the internationally renowned perfumery training school, Cecile has since become known for her intuitive and visionary approach to perfumery. She consistently pushes boundaries with creations that are not only artistic but also commercially iconic.
In 2019, she broke into the highly concentrated and competitive Brazilian fragrance market — the world’s second-largest. She became the first and only independent perfumer to collaborate with Granado, Brazil’s leading heritage love brand (minority owned by Puig). In the middle of the pandemic, she secured a new local partnership with a major fragrance house. The culmination of this collaboration, the franchise Bossa launched at the end of 2020 for their 150th anniversary, was hailed as “the solar fragrance the Brazilian market was missing,” and has become Granado’s top seller!
« Bossa is one of the fragrances that best represents Granado’s perfumery and has been a top seller since its launch in all the markets where it’s been introduced, both in Brazil and abroad” says Sissi Freeman, Marketing & Sales Director of Granado.
Cecile’s prolific portfolio with Amouage (minority owned by L’Oréal) is another testament to her bold signature. She is the only independent perfumer to have worked with the brand and together they have authored over ten fragrances for the House — all of which have become commercial successes and award-winning creations: including Material (short-listed Fragrance Foundation France Awards 2022), Opus XIV Royal Tobacco (Fragrance Foundation Award USA 2023…), and Outlands (Marie Claire Prix International du Parfum 2024) which she created as part of The Essences collection and was sold out worldwide in less than 24 hours! A first for Amouage and Outlands has also been recognised for “setting a new benchmark in Haute Perfumery.”
In 2018, she created Ani for Nishane, which grew into the brand’s bestseller and a pillar of its global growth. Its success led to the launch of Ani X in 2023, celebrating Nishane’s 10th anniversary. These enduring collaborations reflect Cecile’s ability to build long-term creative relationships grounded in trust, performance, and a shared vision.
Beyond perfume creation, Cecile offers consultancy services in scent branding and olfactory identity development, working with industry leaders such as renowned international spirits groups Pernod-Ricard and Suntory.
She also designs immersive, multi-sensory experiences and leads masterclasses and workshops worldwide.
Though rooted in niche perfumery, today her creative vision resonates far beyond. Couture houses, international groups, and designer brands now turn to her for her singular creativity. They value her unique artistic voice and entrust her with projects where she successfully competes with the top 5 fragrance houses. These collaborations, spanning continents and cultures, showcase her unique ability to craft a meaningful and distinctive narrative in a highly competitive landscape.
Her ambition and dreams, her relentless energy and hard work, have made her a true game changer in the perfume industry. Trailblazing in both spirit and execution, Cecile Zarokian has carved her name among the most influential voices in contemporary perfumery.
Alongside her commercial achievements, Cecile remains deeply attached to the artistic side of perfumery. Early in her career, she co-created [IP]01, a cross-disciplinary project correlating fragrance and illustration. The resulting exhibition travelled Europe: Paris (2011), London (2013), and the Triennale di Milano (2014).
This fundamental connection between art and perfumery remains a defining hallmark of Cecile’s creative process. Her unique way of capturing the authenticity of each Maison continues to shape her creative ethos: always going the extra mile to build emotion, meaning, and legacy, one fragrance at a time.
More than a perfumer, Cecile Zarokian has redefined the rules of the game, reshuffled the deck and opened a new path in the world of perfumery.