Roja Parfums

Founded 2011 · London, England · Roja Dove

Roja Dove is probably the most visible living perfumer in Britain: the first Briton to hold the title of Professeur de Parfums at Guerlain, where he spent twenty years, and his own house makes perfumery of a classical cut with no concessions to price.

History

Dove joined Guerlain in 1981 and spent two decades there, becoming the first Briton to hold the house's title of Professeur de Parfums. In 2004 he opened the Haute Parfumerie at Harrods and in 2011 founded Roja Parfums. His perfumery is deliberately old in its method: chypres, fougères and florals built on the classical French structure and with very high concentrations of natural material, at a moment when the industry is heading the other way. Enigma, Elysium and Scandal are his big names.

Iconic models

Elysium
A woody citrus with grapefruit and ambroxan; the house's best seller.
Enigma
Cognac, tobacco and honey, classically cut and very rich.
Scandal
A floral chypre; his reading of the great French perfumery of mid-century.

Worth knowing

Dove was the first Briton to hold the title of Professeur de Parfums at Guerlain, a post the house grants to very few people and which does not exist outside it.