Jean-Claude Ellena was born on 1947 and is a French perfumer and writer.
12 Facts About Jean-Claude Ellena
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Jean-Claude Ellena served as the in-house perfumer at Hermes from 2004 to 2016, prior to the appointment of incumbent Christine Nagel.
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At an early age, Ellena picked jasmine with his grandmother in Grasse to sell to perfumers.
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Jean-Claude Ellena has reminisced, "Among other essential oils, we made a lot of oakmoss, and after I'd put the distiller on, I'd lie down on a bed of it and sleep".
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Jean-Claude Ellena left Givaudan in 1976 with two others perfumers for Lautier in Grasse.
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Jean-Claude Ellena has been profoundly influenced by pioneering perfumer Edmond Roudnitska, particularly by his article, "Advice to a Young Perfumer", in a magazine given to him by his father.
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Jean-Claude Ellena has created fragrances for several major perfume houses including The Different Company, which he founded before joining Hermes.
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In 2005, Jean-Claude Ellena created Un Jardin sur le Nil for Hermes.
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Jean-Claude Ellena left Hermes in 2016, and Swiss-born chemist and perfumer Christine Nagel replaced him as Hermes in-house perfumer.
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In 2018 Jean-Claude Ellena worked with the House of Houbigant, to recreate Essence Rare, a fragrance he had first signed in 1973, his first assignment as a young perfumer in New York.
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Jean-Claude Ellena became the olfactive director of the brand Le Couvent des Minimes.
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In 2019 Jean-Claude Ellena started an ongoing collaboration with Perris Monte Carlo, for whom he has created the Collection de Grasse, an exclusive fragrance collection paying tribute to the history and unique craftmanship of the art of perfumery in Pays de Grasse.