Vibrant Beginnings

When Jean-Marc dreams, he dreams in perfume. The ethereal images that he constructs in scent breathe vitality into the visions of his clients, adding a dimension of personality to his perfumes. He starts by picturing the person who wears his creation, and then tailors his accords to fit his muse. Characteristically charismatic, Jean-Marc brings his own sense of sensuality to each of his prolific creations.

As a child living in Grasse, he remembers the seasons in the scents that marked the air; extractions of mimosa, lavender, rose and jasmine perfume his earliest childhood memories. Moving to Paris, he excelled in math at a top-tier school before returning to the path before him and officially starting his training in the classical art of perfume at ISIPCA. The son of the gifted perfumer, Raymond Chaillan, Jean-Marc began his life primed to follow in his father’s footsteps and did for two years at J&E Sozio in Paris.

Explorations of Scent in the Sun

A traveler at heart, it wasn’t long before Jean-Marc departed for warmer shores and the beginning of his career at IFF São Paulo as a Junior Perfumer. The next four years were spent falling in love with Brazil, where he met his wife. The vibrancy of life below the equator has had a lasting impact on his work as a perfumer, joining his French perfume aesthetic with the colorful tastes and culture of a sunnier Brazilian lifestyle. Here he developed a love for naturals, enthusiastically explaining “natural materials give products another dimension – they are alive!” In 1997, Jean-Marc moved his family to the United States to begin the series of wins that now mark him as a successful perfumer and a cheerleader within his team at IFF New York. Sweet and sultry notes mix with the warmth of bodily musks and orientals in his Latin-inspired creations, which have found success in the global marketplace, such as Calvin Klein’s Euphoria Men, Estee Lauder Private Collection: Jasmine White Moss, Baldessarini for Hugo Boss, and Oscar De La Renta’s Live in Love.

This unique style is felt most acutely in the way that he combines the freshest notes with the darkest materials.