Cécile Zarokian graduated from ISIPCA and spent four years training at Robertet, where in 2009 she composed her first perfume, Amouage Epic Woman. She went independent at 27 and opened her own creative studio in Paris in 2011. She runs it as chief executive with a team of seven, and also builds scent identities for drinks groups including Pernod Ricard and Suntory.
Her project list is long, from MDCI Nuit Andalouse and Masque Milano Tango to Puredistance Rubikona and Creed Oud Zarian. Nishane Ani, composed in 2018 and named after the ruined medieval Armenian city, became the brand's bestseller and was followed by Ani X in 2023. Granado Bossa grew out of a walk to the beach in Rio, frangipani in the air and the sea close by, and launched at the end of 2020 for the Brazilian house's 150th anniversary. For Amouage she has signed more than ten perfumes, among them Material and Opus XIV Royal Tobacco, which won a US Fragrance Foundation Award in 2023.
Amouage Epic 56 Woman returns to her first perfume at 56 per cent perfume oil, aged for 18 weeks: cumin, pink pepper and cinnamon over centifolia rose, jasmine tea, oud and frankincense. Amouage Outlands, part of the house's Essences collection, lays saffron, anise and coriander over benzoin, labdanum, ambergris, birch and oud, and won the Marie Claire Prix International du Parfum in 2024.
