Marc-Antoine Corticchiato
A Morocco-born perfumer of Corsican roots, a chemistry PhD who founded Parfum d'Empire.
About Marc-Antoine Corticchiato
Marc-Antoine Corticchiato is a perfumer of Corsican origin, born in Morocco, and a scientist who has studied how aromatic plants produce their scent. He creates under Parfum d'Empire, the house he founded and still leads.
Career
He grew up between his parents' citrus groves near Azemmour in Morocco and the family home in the Corsican village of Cuttoli-Corticchiato. A competition rider from the age of eight, he nearly chose an equestrian career, but curiosity about how plants make scent led him instead to chemistry. For his doctorate he developed a carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance method for analyzing aromatic plant extracts, then completed his training at ISIPCA in Versailles. Years in a plant-analysis research laboratory, early aromatherapy blends and a post at a Parisian perfume laboratory came before Parfum d'Empire. He also teaches at ISIPCA and has set up an essential-oil production unit in Madagascar.
Creative Style & Philosophy
Years of taking natural raw materials apart in the laboratory gave him an intimate knowledge of them, and that knowledge underpins his compositions. He is drawn to materials prized across cultures for centuries for their refinement and long associated with sensuality and sacred ritual. With Parfum d'Empire, he set out to revive that age-old link between perfume, eroticism and spirituality as an artistic theme.
Signature Works
- *Corsica Furiosa* — a scent tied to his Corsican heritage, named best niche-brand fragrance at France's FiFi Awards in 2015
- *Tabac Tabou* — a tobacco-themed composition that won the same FiFi distinction in 2016
- *Smoky Soul* — created for Olfactive Studio, an example of his work beyond his own house
