BOULEVARD PARIS – INTERVIEW
Aphrodite Delarp
Boulevard Paris: Translating the City into Emotion
People often reduce Paris to a series of images: monuments, cafés, wide boulevards, and an idea of effortless elegance that has been repeated for decades. Yet beyond this familiar surface, the city exists in a more subtle way: through sensations, habits, and personal memories. It is not only a place you visit, but a feeling you carry. This tension between the real and the imagined is at the core of Boulevard Paris.
Through scent, Boulevard Paris’ perfumes construct an interpretation of the city. Each fragrance links to a Parisian location, yet it does not aim to describe it. Instead, the brand focuses on what these places represent emotionally: a sense of simplicity, intimacy, and quiet confidence. It is about translating atmosphere into scent, turning geography into mood, and memory into experience.
Boulevard reflects on a certain vision of elegance: one that avoids excess and resonates with everyday life rather than spectacle. The scent remains central, but a narrative supports it and deepens its meaning.
Boulevard Paris builds itself around an idealised vision of Paris. Which Paris are you selling? The city, the fantasised one, or the memory people wish they had of it?
We’re selling an idea of Paris rather than the physical city. It’s not about accuracy or landmarks, it’s about what Paris represents culturally: ease, taste, intimacy, and a certain emotional intelligence. It’s closer to the version people carry in their heads than the one you experience as a tourist.
Boulevard names each fragrance after a Parisian place. At what point does a location become a feeling? And how do you translate that emotional geography into scent?
A location becomes a feeling when you stop thinking about where you are and start noticing how you feel there. We use places as starting points, not as formulas to recreate. We don’t design the fragrances to smell like streets or buildings; we build them around the mood, pace, and energy of those places.
The QR code turns perfume into a narrative object. Do you see fragrance today as a static luxury product, or as an entry point into a wider cultural experience?
Fragrance today sits somewhere between product and culture. In truth, people don’t just want an object; they want context. The QR code adds that layer without changing the perfume itself. It gives space for storytelling, references, and ideas that deepen how the scent is understood.
If Paris disappeared tomorrow and only emotions remained, which one would Boulevard Paris try to preserve in scent ?
A sense of ease. Paris has a way of making things feel natural rather than forced. That comfort with yourself, with your taste, with your presence is what we’d want to preserve.
Many of your compositions lean into recognisable, comforting notes. Is accessibility a creative choice, a political one, or a response to how people consume fragrance today?
Accessibility is a creative decision. We’re not interested in making difficult fragrances that require explanation. Familiar notes allow people to connect quickly, and from there we can work on nuance and balance. It’s less about trends and more about how people actually live with fragrance day to day.
Your perfumes celebrate Parisian elegance, but elegance can also be exclusionary. Who is Boulevard Paris really speaking to today?
We’re speaking to people who appreciate subtlety rather than status. Elegance, in our context, isn’t about price points or social codes it’s about comfort with your own choices, and not overdoing things.
In an era obsessed with niche, provocation, and olfactory shock value, Boulevard chooses elegance. Do you see elegance as resistance?
Choosing elegance is simply choosing longevity over attention. We’re more interested in fragrances people return to than ones that shock on first spray.
Several fragrances evoke intimacy rather than spectacle. Is Boulevard more interested in how Paris feels at night than how it looks in daylight?
We’re inspired by how Paris feels during the day: alive but not over the top. Our fragrances are designed to fit into daily life, subtle enough for close wear but still present in everyday moments.
Today, perfume is discovered on screens before it reaches skin. How does Boulevard Paris navigate the gap between digital seduction and real-world emotion?
Digital discovery is just the first step. Screens can hint at a fragrance, but the real experience happens on skin. Our goal is to make sure what people see online matches what they actually smell and if it doesn’t, we’ve missed the point..
Beyond Paris, what cities do you believe deserve the same olfactory storytelling treatment? And would you ever dare to leave the City of Light behind?
Other cities have stories worth telling, but Paris is our reference point. Any expansion would need to make sense creatively. It’s not about leaving Paris behind, it’s about building on it.
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Aphrodite Delarp is a stylist and public relations strategist who thrives at the intersection of creativity and culture. After making waves in PR at Harper’s Bazaar, he now shapes stories and connections at Irk Magazine, blending strategy with a sharp eye for style. Equally at home crafting a look or designing a project, he is also a designer and a true pluridisciplinary artist. His work defies boundaries, challenges conventions, and turns every endeavor into a statement of originality and vision.
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