Hwal Kim
A South Korea-based perfumer connecting music, architecture and personal memories with scent.
South Korea
About Hwal Kim
Hwal Kim is a perfumer based in South Korea whose practice connects fragrance creation with places where people can experience scent. Music, architecture and memories from travel provide subjects for compositions that relate the texture of materials to more personal images.
Career
With more than a decade of practical experience, Kim runs the House of Perfumer in Seongsu, Seoul, a workspace that also serves as a showroom for Una Parfum. Experiences with ingredients, music and photographs form part of its approach to making perfume culture more accessible and giving visitors a fuller understanding of fragrant materials. Plastic Flower for RAW CONTRAST was selected as a finalist for the 2026 Art and Olfaction Awards.
Creative Style & Philosophy
Kim draws on moments that leave an impression, and on artists or places whose qualities suggest a fragrant image. An interest in the expression of musk accompanies an exploration of unexpected relationships, including metallic impressions within familiar citrus and connections between scent and colour. In sharing knowledge, personal memories and preferences become starting points for a deeper understanding of ingredients and the compositions built from them.
Signature Works
- *Hanji — Una Parfum* — Inspired by Ryuichi Sakamoto's music and artistic attitude, with an idea of things that endure.
- *Plastic Flower — RAW CONTRAST* — A finalist in the 2026 Art and Olfaction Awards.
- *De Nude — pesade, 2023* — A parfum exploring relationships between iris, leather and wood.
