Kim Charles, owner of Indult Paris, reveals his passion for the fragrance industry and why he is preserving a legacy

Why are you attracted to the fragrance industry and reinvigorating the Indult Paris brand?

First of all, I’m a collector, and I’m passionate about perfumes. I never intended to buy a perfume company.

Indult Paris chose me. I didn’t choose Indult Paris. Manakara chose me. I didn’t choose. And so, I managed to fall in love.

And then when I heard that these perfumes no longer existed and I had bought the last remaining bottle, I spoke to the master perfumer, who is Francis Kurkdjian, and he used the phrase – “yes, these were my four masterpieces.”

That had me thinking – what does he mean by masterpieces? Surely every perfume is a masterpiece? Then I suddenly realized that there was no accountant behind him; he had a white piece of paper, and he just went for it. And he came out with these things. No one was telling him what to do. You have freedom to do whatever.

And then it struck me that I had to preserve this legacy. And so, I’m just the caretaker. That’s all. And I bought it back into the market. They are cheaper today than they were several years ago because I wanted to enlarge the market.

What is the brand philosophy of Indult Paris and how do you position it amid the competitive landscape of the fragrance industry?

There are a lot of brands out there. And of course, Indult Paris had chosen me. And over the years I’ve learned that what I’m actually doing is quiet luxury. It’s not shouting out like a Dior or Chanel, it’s quiet luxury.

It is for people who want to wear a perfume and walk into a room and automatically know that no one else is wearing it and they are unique. They don’t have to shout. It’s very discreet and under the radar. But a beautiful perfume by a master perfumer that everybody should know who knows about perfume.

What are your thoughts on the potential for these fragrances to thrive commercially in Hong Kong and Asia?

L’Oreal did a market study and it showed basically worldwide sales and in Europe it is a strong market, but it’s stagnant. It’s not growing. Middle East is growing at around 12%. But in Asia Pacific, it is growing at 23%.

What does that actually mean? It actually means that people are looking for us, for niche perfumes, in the Asia market. It means the Asia market is actually changing and they are discovering perfumes from Italy and from France that they would not normally have access to. But it’s through independent shops and independent perfumeries and pop up stores, the smaller ones, like Scented Niche, that people are being educated. And it’s very, very important that people get to know that they can have a choice, an option other than designer brands.

Are French brands particularly appealing in the perfume sector?

They are very much, both historically and traditionally. We are very appealing and we are becoming more appealing to the Asian market as their tastes and individuality grows within them.

How did you pick the master perfumers to collaborate with?

Well, this time it was totally an accident that I discovered that the one Manakara bottle was done by Francis Kurkdjian. And then the others just followed, when I picked up the company. I never smelt the others when I bought the company because they didn’t exist anymore, they were all sold out, and I apparently had the last bottle of Manakara in my collection and it’s due to that.

But the biggest seller we have is Tihota, and a lot of people may not know Indult Paris, but they will know Tihota as a perfume. It’s a reference point for vanilla, for other companies.

Do you intend to expand the range and enter other markets?

I don’t like the word expand and potential markets. I like to reach out to people who are passionate, who want to start their perfume journeys. It’s not about money. Today they are cheaper now than they were when Francis Kurkdjian put the price on them when he had the company. So, in order to reach perfume enthusiasts and to bring the legacy, I’m just the caretaker of this brand.

Why did you decide to collaborate with Scented Niche?

Scented Niche is different from a lot of other shops. We collaborate with distributors who are passionate about perfumes, not about numbers. It’s this passion that sells.

And that’s all that we want to do. We want to be with people who are passionate or to educate people to become passionate, to start their perfume journey.

With Scented Niche, we’ve done something special on a limited edition – and it takes its inspiration from the Hong Kong skyline. It’s fantastic. And I’ve actually signed the boxes themselves with my signature, and there are only 100 pieces.