Emilie Sabas
Emilie Sabas carries the perfume capital in her blood. Raised in Grasse among the fields of tuberose and jasmine that feed the world's most storied houses, she grew up watching her father, a working perfumer, transform raw materials into scent compositions. That proximity to craft shaped her from the start. Sabas launched her professional career at Fragrance Resources in New York, cutting her teeth on the demanding pace of American fragrance development before joining Givaudan in 2003, a move that placed her inside one of the most influential creative houses in the industry. Over the years she has built global recognition as a creative perfumer whose work threads together her French heritage, her American training, and a curiosity about perfumery traditions far beyond Europe. Based in New York and a mother of three, Sabas approaches her work with the energy of someone who treats perfumery as both art and conversation. Her presence at industry gatherings, such as the recent SCADstyle event where she spoke about the meeting point of chemistry and intuition, marks her as a perfumer invested not only in the bottle but in how scent reaches the people who wear it.
The hits
Notable creations
The signature
How Emilie composes
Sabas approaches each composition with the precision of a trained chemist and the instinct of an artist raised in the fields of Grasse. Her palette reflects both influences: the classical floral heritage of southern France and the more modern, structured constructions favored in contemporary American and international perfumery. She favors compositions with clear architecture, building from a distinct top note idea into a heart that holds emotional weight, then resolving into a base that earns its longevity. Florals appear frequently in her work, but treated with a contemporary hand, never sentimental, always tethered to textured woods, musks, or amber accords that give the fragrance weight on skin. Sabas is also drawn to contrasts, pairing bright citrus or green openings with warmer, more intimate drydowns. Her sensibility rewards close attention, revealing itself in layers rather than arriving all at once.
Philosophy
What drives Emilie
Sabas believes perfumery lives at the meeting point of chemistry and intuition, a place where technical precision must give way to something less measurable. She has described herself as open to any challenge, a philosophy that has carried her through more than two decades of commercial and niche projects alike. For Sabas, fragrance is ultimately about emotion and connection, not just composition. She thinks about how a scent feels on the skin, how it shifts across hours of wear, and what it quietly communicates about the person wearing it. Sensuality, presence, and authenticity are the qualities she reaches for when evaluating her own work. Her global career has also given her a flexible creative posture. Drawing on her French roots, her New York training, and exposure to markets across continents, she treats every brief as an invitation to push past familiar categories. The through line is curiosity, paired with respect for the raw materials that make scent possible in the first place.
The houses