Francis Kurkdjian was born in Paris in 1969 to Armenian parents. He first wanted to dance, missed out on a place at the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1983, and by 1985 had settled on perfume. He entered ISIPCA in Versailles in 1990 and joined Quest International in 1993, taking a postgraduate course in luxury marketing at the same time.
In 1995 he composed Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male. Narciso Rodriguez For Her followed in 2003, co-signed with Christine Nagel, and later Elie Saab Le Parfum and Burberry Her. He opened a made-to-measure perfume atelier in 2001, staged his first scent installation at Versailles in 2006, and in 2009 founded Maison Francis Kurkdjian with Marc Chaya. Its Baccarat Rouge 540 began as a limited edition for Baccarat's 250th anniversary and became one of the best-selling perfumes in the world. LVMH bought the house in 2017, and in 2021 Dior named him perfume creation director.
MDCI Enlèvement au Sérail, one of MDCI's first successes, is a floral oriental in the grand old manner: ylang-ylang, sambac jasmine, tuberose and Turkish rose over patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla and vetiver. Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud Satin Mood belongs to the oud family of his own house, beside OUD and Oud Silk Mood, a floral, woody amber made as an eau de parfum and an extrait.
