Let’s continue with the second part of my interview with Nico Mannino and Robin Dünner from pernoire. I already published the first part of pernoire im Interview – Schweizer Duftkunst yesterday. If you missed it, you can read it again at the link above. 😊
Who do you want to address with your fragrances?
Robin: Our vision is to become the most popular fragrance brand for 20 to 35-year-olds in the niche segment.
You are very active on social media and were recently on the Swiss edition of “Die Höhle der Löwen”. Can you tell us something about it? How important is it for you to interact with your followers and fans via Instagram and Tiktok?
Nico: As an up-and-coming perfume house, we reached the limits of our private financing options, which led us to decide on an investment round – including a participation in “Die Höhle der Löwen” in Switzerland. Fortunately, we were able to convince all investors and had the privilege of selecting the right partners. We successfully completed the transaction at the end of 2023 and are now ideally positioned for further growth.
Our aim is to be a customer-oriented brand that fosters a unique exchange with the community – a concept that has never existed in this form before. We are in regular dialogue with customers, content creators and other interested parties to bring the art of perfumery to a wider audience. The industry tends to maintain a barrier between the market or customers and the brand or creation. We want to lift this curtain and establish ourselves as a link between the brand and its customers.
What stories do your creations tell? What were the inspirations for the fragrances?
Robin: Inspiration is wonderfully unpredictable in nature and can come from the most unexpected corners of life. For future creations, we plan to delve even deeper into diverse areas, be it art, nature, literature or global cultures. Every aspect of life, every nuanced emotion and experience holds the potential to ignite the spark for a new fragrance.
Inspiration can indeed come from many sources, but many of our past fragrances have been deeply personal, with each scent telling a unique story.
Nico: Take Masar, for example. It stands as a tribute to Robin and I, celebrating the spirit of paving our own path and choosing a direction true to our hearts. Vitias embraces those idyllic summer vacations on the beach, evoking memories of romances that were as fleeting as they were intense.
Our journey to South America crystallizes in Tierra. It also captures a special rum that left an impression on me, even though neither of us enjoy alcohol. The fragrance is a juxtaposition of wanderlust and distinct, personal memories.
Robin: Amoral dives into a more introspective space, inspired by our shared curiosity about the darker facets of human nature, while Mansa mirrors our aspirations. It is a fragrance that captures our dual ambitions: financial success and the generous, philanthropic endeavors we are passionate about.
Finally, Naki serves as a counterpart to Amoral. It is our quest to capture the essence of unadulterated goodness and represents the purest and kindest facets of humanity.
Every fragrance we create is both a work of art and a chapter from our lives, interwoven with our experiences, aspirations and reflections – always an olfactory interpretation of a personality.
The creations of pernoire come from the Swiss perfumer Andreas Wilhelm. How did the collaboration come about?
Nico : As became publicly known – we at pernoire communicated it proactively – the former perfumer stopped working with us for unknown reasons, which was a major setback for us at the time. About a month before this happened, Andreas and I had made contact and arranged a meeting. A harmonious relationship immediately developed between Andreas, Robin and myself, which enabled Andreas to put our emergency plan into action.
pernoire was developing its fourth fragrance at the time, but had never received prototypes from the old perfumer. With the Esxence trade fair just three months away, we were faced with the challenge of starting practically from scratch – from briefing to finished product, which seemed extremely tight and almost impossible. Fortunately, Andreas set a fast pace and understood exactly which emotions and scents were to be conveyed with Amoral. Interestingly, Amoral became a bestseller despite the very short development phase. Looking back, we are glad that the perfumer “had” to be changed, as the harmony and quality of Andreas is significantly higher. He has also reformulated Masar, Vitias and Tierra in order to optimize the quality of the fragrances.
To what extent are you involved in the development of the fragrances?
Robin: Nico and I are very involved and talk to Andreas almost every week. It is very important to us to maintain a close exchange and have a major influence on development. Andreas is the vehicle, so to speak, and we are the drivers who determine the direction – both are necessary to reach the destination.
What can we expect from pernoire in the future?
Robin: More unique and wacky fragrances, cool events, exchange with our community and one or two other things that are not yet available in perfumery.
Is there anything important you would like to add?
Nico: We would like to thank everyone who has accompanied us on our journey so far. There are still some big things to come – we are keeping a strategic eye on our vision and working hard to achieve it. The community can look forward to an exciting future. We strive to inspire and continually surprise the community.
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