DelRae Roth

DelRae Roth is the founder of alternative brand Parfums DelRae. Former art director for clothing company Esprit, she created her brand in 2000. She lives in San Francisco but she particularly appreciates France. Indeed, her fragrances bear names such as Bois de Paradis (paradise wood), Amoureuse (in love) or Début (beginning), and she exclusively works with French perfumers. We have interviewed her as she was coming to Paris to present her latest fragrance, Mythique, a powdery woody floral inspired by Diane de Poitiers…

A few key words that describe your personality ?
Loyal, generous, compassionate, tenacious.

Aside from yourself, who would you have liked to be ?
Leonardo Da Vinci, Diane de Poitiers (favorite mistress of King Henri II of France) or Sylvie Guillem (a French ballet dancer).

Your first encounter with fragrance ?
At 4 years, lifting the lid from the teapot and smelling the brewing tea.

Your favorite smell ?
The forest in the mountains at 9,000 ft.

Your favorite fragrance components ?
Flowers, herbs, resins.

Your favorite flower ?
Rose.

Your favorite drink ?
Caffe latte in the morning. Tea at midday. And Champagne in the evening.

A travel destination that you really enjoy ?
Paris.

What influences you as a designer ?
Art, people, travel, ideas, history.

A fashion designer (or boutique) that you particularly appreciate ?
Dries Van Noten, Jil Sander, and Chanel.

An artist whose work fascinates you ?
Beethoven, Vladimir Nabokov, painter Balthus, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Which perfumer(s) style do you admire ?
Ernest Beaux.

The fragrance you wish you had designed ?
Chanel No.5

How do you envisage the future for fragrances? Do you have any hopes for the future?
I envisage them more and more sophisticated.

Your own little luxury ?
Getting to bed early and getting up early.