“When I dream, I don’t dream about perfume — I dream about playing hockey,” said Aurélien Guichard, with a laugh.
That might come as a surprise, given his day jobs are as a master perfumer at Takasago; a cofounder of niche fragrance brand Matière Première, and the creator of an organic rose centifolia and tuberose farm. But field hockey has been his passion — and obsession — since the age of five.
The 45-year-old began playing on a pitch near his family’s Paris apartment and has been playing at the national level since he was a teen. “I started with a group of guys that I still play with today,” he said. There are about 20 in all, many of whom remain close friends and will attend at his upcoming wedding.
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Field hockey is not a professional sport, so it’s never driven by money, and instills deep friendships and solid values, according to Guichard. You play “because it’s your passion only,” he said.
Between the ages of five and 12, Guichard would practice and play a game once a week. Then, the number of sessions ramped up on the grown-up team.
“It changed my life, because it actually opened a world of adults to me,” he said. “A lot of [the men] were very successful hockey players — many of them were playing for the national team — but on top of that, many were also successful businessmen.
“I remember spending maybe two or three years trying to improve my skills, but also to be accepted as a human being,” Guichard continued.
He began playing at the national level for France with people from abroad, such as India and Holland.
At the University of the West England Bristol, in the U.K., Guichard was first team captain in 1996, 1997 and 1999. He afterward returned to France and was on the country’s first league team for some 15 years.
“I didn’t have much time for anything else but working and playing,” Guichard said. “But that was really what drove my life, dreams and goals for many, many years.”
He next moved to the U.S. and played field hockey for a New York team, which became champion of America. Guichard has been a center forward, center midfield and, most recently, center defense, for France’s national masters team.
In 2019, when he served as captain of the Paris Jean Bouin, or PJB, team, it placed second in the European cup. In 2022, Guichard’s masters team won the French championship.
For the perfumer, fragrance and field hockey are not as far afield as one would think. “There are huge similarities with hockey — sports in general — and being a perfumer,” he said. To illustrate, Guichard pulled out some writing by the late perfumer Edmond Roudnitska, dating from 1989.
“He was a sports fan, and he wrote this letter to his students when he was teaching perfumery,” Guichard said.
Roudnitska, in French, penned: “Be assiduously sporty, it toughens the character, protects, gives breath and endurance, it makes daily effort a faithful and familiar friend, who always ends up leading to success. Composing perfumes is a sport. Do it sportingly, loyally.”
“When you create perfume, you don’t know whether you will win or lose,” Guichard said, whose bestsellers include Narciso by Narciso Rodriguez, Burberry Hero, Versace Eros and Gucci Pour Homme. “You have this uncertainty, but what leads you is the dream of winning or of creating.
“When you do a sport, you create something with other people,” he continued. “You’re always driven by your fire — that’s your passion. What matters is how much effort you put into it.”
Practice helps make perfect.
“People don’t do sports to be champions, but they all do sports to improve themselves,” said Guichard, adding the same goes for fragrance creation. Both are bolstered by endurance and human skills, as well as forged friendships and discipline.
“In the end,” Guichard said, “the most important thing is feeling a pleasure in the effort.”