Loc Dong

Loc Dong spent his earliest years trailing behind his grandfather through the gardens of Saigon, learning the names and uses of fragrant plants that would one day define his career. His grandfather was a herbalist, and the boy absorbed everything—the sharp bite of lemongrass, the medicinal depth of certain roots, the quiet power of dried botanicals. These memories became the foundation of everything that followed. When Dong arrived in the United States as a young man, medicine felt like the natural path. He dreamed of healing. But the universe had another plan: a perfumer believed in him, offered training, and sent him to Holzminden to learn the craft properly. Dong took the opportunity seriously, pouring the same discipline into fragrance that he might have given to medicine. He began his formal career at Haarman & Reimer in 1992, staying through 2002. Then came two decades at IFF, split between New York and Paris, where he built one of the most commercially successful portfolios in modern perfumery. He became the first Asian fine fragrance perfumer in the industry—a milestone that came not through strategy, but through sheer, stubborn excellence. In 2024, Dong joined Symrise, bringing his talents back to the house where his career began, now to play a leading role in their prestige fragrance division.