Frank Voelkl

“You have to create to last”

We interviewed fragrance designer Frank Voelk in New York.

Frank, tell us a little bit about yourself, about the fragrances you’ve created.

I was born in Germany, and I trained in both France and Germany, but I’ve been living in New York since 1995. First I worked for Symrise*, where I was assisted by fragrance designer Maurice Roucel. And for the almost two years I’ve been designing fragrances for Firmenich, in New York.
I have designed several fragrances for the American fashion designer Kenneth Cole, including his most recent men’s scent, RSVP, as well as for other American fashion designers, like Tommy Hilfiger and Anna Sui. I have also done some limited editions for Dior, Cerruti and Guerlain. But I’ve worked for alternative brands, like Laura Mercier, Chantecaille and Colette, too.

What are your influences as a designer?

I have two main ones. First of all, life in New York, it’s so dynamic. The city’s energy, and vibrations, the wind, the sun… that all stimulates me a lot. And then there’s my island, where I go to chill out each year: Tahiti. It’s the exact opposite of New York. Everything’s calm, restful, warm… almost in stagnation. In olfactory terms, it works out to vibrant green notes for New York. And for Tahiti, I tend to lean towards warm and sensual accords – lush, ambery, lots of exotic flowers – that express the place’s generosity: …
And I also like finding inspiration in the everyday!

How can we recognize one of your fragrances? What are, in your opinion, their characteristic features?

The experts I work with recognize my fragrances thanks to certain ingredients or accords that I enjoy using. Particularly some green notes that crop up in almost all of my fragrances…
Aside from that, the unifying feature in my fragrances is their simplicity. I try to create fragrances that can have a multitude of facets but that are still quite legible. The main thing is to get a message across. I try to ensure that there’s something obvious about the finished item, by making sure that every single ingredient has its raison d’être, nothing “superfluous” It is what it is. That’s what I aim for in my work...

What other designer’s fragrance(s) do you wish you had created? And why?

Something that has been created but isn’t available for sale yet: a man’s fragrance and a woman’s fragrance, as opposed to a fragrance for men and a fragrance for women. I’d like to design something that highlights one’s natural smell, as opposed to a scent to cover it up.
It would be a skin product that blends with your scent rather than scenting you. Like an outfit woven from fragrance.

How do you envisage the future of fragrances and fragrance brands?

I think we need to get back to scents that have strong, legible, identifiable messages that are supported by brands and built with conviction. We need to get back to basics. Create to last.

Do you have a wish for the future?

Get back to a more-even balance between mercantilism and art in fragrance.

Anything else to add?

I think that as fragrance designers, everything we could want to do has already been done. The only thing we’re still waiting for is visionaries with a real olfactory education and strong convictions, ready to take risks to get them out there.

* Born from the merger of Haarmann & Reimer and Dragoco, two structures that Frank Völkl has collaborated with