ALBERTO MORILLAS
Alberto Morillas is a renowned Spanish perfumer who has created some of the world's most iconic fragrances. He was born in Seville, Spain in 1950, but moved to Switzerland at the age of ten. Morillas studied for two years at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Geneva and began working in perfumery at the age of 20, after being inspired by a Vogue article about French perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain.
In 1970, Morillas joined Swiss fragrance and flavor firm Firmenich, where he established himself with the creation of Must de Cartier in 1975, the first fragrance of the Cartier jewelry company. Since then, Morillas has been involved or touched the creation of nearly 7000 perfumes for the company, including the iconic Calvin Klein CK One, Giorgio Armani Acqua di Giò for women, Kenzo Flower, Bvlgari Omnia, Cartier Panthere de Cartier, and Marc Jacobs Daisy.
Morillas is also the founder of his independent line called Mizensir, which began with scented candles and has since expanded to include 17 perfumes. In collaboration with Penhaligon's, Morillas also has a custom perfumery service called Bespoke by Alberto Morillas, based in the Salon de Parfum in the department store Harrods in London.
Throughout his career, Morillas has won numerous awards for his creations, including the prestigious Prix François Coty in 2003. He currently resides in Geneva, Switzerland, after periods of living in Paris and New York.
Morillas has a passion for the Mediterranean Sea and is particularly attached to the scent of citruses, sea notes, and flowers such as jasmine, tuberose, neroli, and orange blossom. He is also inspired by gardens, spending a lot of time in his family garden in Geneva. Morillas believes that the future of the fragrance industry is positive, as more and more people are becoming experts in fragrances and brands are offering different storytelling around creation.
“Perfumery is the mirror of society. I am the artist who interprets these emotions,"he says.
Morillas has stated that creating a fragrance is an art, a very personal and creative exercise. He often works on over twenty different fragrances at any given time and has described the importance of training one's nose and building up a "scent bank" to enhance appreciation of fragrance. Morillas is particularly fond of the rose note, but also enjoys exploring different musks and the scent of orange blossom during springtime in his hometown of Seville.
