Sylvaine Delacourte
A French creator who spent fifteen years directing fragrance at Guerlain before founding her own house, joining the many facets of raw materials with personal memory.
About Sylvaine Delacourte
Sylvaine Delacourte does not limit her role to that of a perfumer who personally writes every formula. She is a creative director who guides personal memory, raw materials, perfumers, and house history toward one scent. Her practice is known for unfolding light, dark, and textural facets within a material rather than treating it as one fixed smell.
Career
Delacourte began as a makeup artist and beauty educator, then pursued specialist fragrance training with ISIPCA teachers and fragrance companies. At Guerlain she moved from development and evaluation into creative direction, leading numerous projects and bespoke work for clients across fifteen years. She founded her eponymous house in 2015 and has since organized collections around multiple interpretations of subjects such as musk, vanilla, and orange blossom.
Creative Style & Philosophy
The process begins by listening to a person's memories and preferences, then translating them into material quality, structure, and change on skin. One subject may be studied through whiteness, greenery, smoke, powder, or animal warmth, allowing education and surprise to coexist. Transparency means that the purpose of each material can be read, not that the result is thin. In collaboration, the perfumer's technical voice remains visible while being woven into the larger intention.
Signature Works
- *L'Instant de Guerlain* — Citrus, honey, magnolia, and amber were guided into soft light that seems to hold time still in a collaborative creation.
- *Spiritueuse Double Vanille* — Vanilla, resins, and woods create spirit-like heat and a dry trail.
- *Dovana* — White musk expands beyond cleanliness into florals, skin, and gentle animal warmth.