Jérôme Epinette was born in Burgundy and studied at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery. He started at Robertet's Paris office in 2003 and crossed to New York in 2006 to help open the company's creative centre there. He has stayed with Robertet ever since, and was among the perfumers the company named when it opened its enlarged Manhattan studio in 2025.
He has made more than a dozen scents for Byredo, among them Gypsy Water, Bal d'Afrique, Unnamed for the brand's tenth anniversary in 2016, and Bois Obscur in 2026. His formulas are spare, often one material given plenty of room, and he likes pairings that look odd on paper, such as angelica seed with lingonberry. His list also runs to Vilhelm Parfumerie's Great Lord, Chimilka and Sun Cities, Sol de Janeiro's Cheirosa 91 mist and Rare Beauty's first perfume, which won a Fragrance Foundation Award in 2026.
We carry Bal d'Afrique Absolu, Byredo's Absolu de Parfum take on his 2009 Bal d'Afrique. Bergamot, lemon and blackcurrant still open it, violet and musk still sit in the heart, and cedar and vetiver still hold the base, but a heart of praline and a long trail of black amber make it sweeter and denser.
