Perfumer at Givaudan since 2000, Louise Turner signed success frangrances for the whole industry but also develops fragrances more, unique.  She created "Lazy Sunday Morning" for Maison Martin Margiela, the opportunity to question her creative fiber and dive into her history to discover what inspires her to create.

What is your motto?

“Less is more”

You have been raised in Kent, south of UK. What is your older olfactive souvenir?

The first things that come to my mind are cigarette and wood, which remind me of my father. He was chemist but one of his passions was the wood. He used to work the wood, cut it into small pieces to create beautiful objects. I intensely remember the smell of sawdust which mingled with the cigarette that he was smoking. Those smells fascinated me and continue to fascinate me. I also have a strong memory of the smell of the old Victorian house I lived in during my childhood. It had a very specific odor, difficult to define, close to old wood and dust. Finally, the smell of my garden when I was a child had a strong impact on me: freshly cut grass and honeysuckles always bring me back to the smells of summer in Kent.

What is for you the difference between niche and commercial brands? How is it different in your work?

I get more restrictions from commercial brands because they do a lot of consumer-testing. Besides, many people are involved in the process of creation: I have to make more compromises and convince an entire team of people with different standards and preferences. On the contrary, it is easier for me to work for niche brands. It is the purest way for a perfumer to create a fragrance: I follow what I want to do, I get more liberty. I don’t necessarily have to be consensual because there is no commercial test involved; I can translate my ideas in a more direct way. The relationship with the brand is also simpler as I usually work only with one person from the brand. It is a more straight-forward way of creating a fragrance.  

Maison Martin Margiela, is it a niche fragrance brand?

Obviously Martin Margiela is a niche fragrance brand: again, there is no consumer test and I work more closely with one specific partner from Maison Martin Margiela. There is more freedom in the process of creation. But in a way, as a Fashion House Maison Martin Margiela is more exposed to public awareness, which leads to more exposure for the fragrances too. Maison Martin Margiela has both the advantages of a commercial brand and of a niche brand.

What has inspired you specifically for the creations of  Lazy Sunday Morning?

At the beginning, there is a colour. The white. Luminous, virginal, clean. All my challenge was there. How olfactively deliver the sensations of a colour? Then, I had the idea to design the perfume such flax, cotton, such a light and pleasant matter which caresses of sensuality the skin. I wanted to work this delicate, pure and sober side of white colour in a both modern and timeless elegance where the writing is clear, refined while being soft and enveloping. Elegant and comfortable, the musks seemed to me a good starting point, because it is at the same time a soft and lasting remarkable matter. The brightness of their colours, their smooth and silky textures, their lightness, give them a single aspect of any beauty. I chose to work them all in fineness and minimalism like a simple immaculate clothing, in which the skin would have pleasure to be wrapped. Added to that, I intertwined an amazing, luminous freshness where the aldehydes are expressed all in roundness and delicacy, enhancing the clean and suitably soft tones of musks.