The Interview: EX NIHILO co-founder Sylvie Loday on redefining luxury fragrance through innovation and personalisation

Since its inception in 2013, EX NIHILO, which translates to “created from nothing”, has built its reputation on challenging the conventions of luxury perfumery.

Currently the best-selling fragrance brand at Harrods, Ex Nihilo has marked the launch of its latest scent, Lust in Paradise Extrait de Parfum, with an extended, large-scale pop-up at the luxury department store.

TheIndustry.beauty speaks with co-founder Sylvie Loday about how the Parisian fragrance house has carved out a distinctive position within the niche fragrance market.

Drawing on a background in engineering and science, Loday has helped shape the brand's innovation-led approach. The most tangible expression of this is the Osmologue, a high-precision personalisation technology that allows customers to create their own bespoke fragrance variations.

In this interview, she also discusses why she is intrigued by the potential of biotechnology and synthetic ingredients, the brand's "carte blanche"approach to collaborating with perfumers, and how the brand creates immersive retail experiences to build deeper connections with its customers.

EX NIHILO translates as “created from nothing”. Why did you choose this name when you founded the company in 2013?

The name says everything about our intent. When Olivier, Benoit and I launched EX NIHILO in 2013, we weren't looking to build another fragrance house, we wanted to create something that had no previously known reference. The Latin expression ex nihilo captured exactly that: to bring something entirely new into existence, from scratch, through pure imagination and creative freedom. And the colour blue, our brand colour, runs through it too: created out of the blue, in every sense of the word.

EX NIHILO's Lust in Paradise Extrait de Parfum campaign

What was your vision for the EX NIHILO brand and how has this evolved since it launched?

The vision was always about creative freedom: total, uncompromising creative freedom with perfumers, with our ideas, with everything we do. French by identity, but resolutely avant-garde in how we express it. So many perfume houses look to the past for inspiration; we've always looked forward. What has evolved is the scale of that ambition. We started with one boutique on rue Saint Honoré and a belief that personalization could transform the fragrance experience. Our commitment to creative freedom has remained unchanged.

How do you and your fellow co-founders Olivier Royère and Benoît Verdier divide responsibilities within the business today?

We each bring very different backgrounds to the table: I come from engineering and science, Benoît from advertising and brand-building, Olivier from finance and business. Over time, those experiences have naturally shaped where each of us leads. I oversee the strategic expansion of the house so product vision, innovation, and the brand’s retail roadmap. Benoît is very present on the creative side, close to our communities and partners. Olivier drives the business, the numbers, the structure, the growth. But the big decisions are still made together, around the same table, the way it's always been.

You trained as an engineer before entering the world of fragrance. How has that technical background influenced the way you approach perfume creation and innovation?

Having an engineering background brings an angle of innovation to the brand that we feel is truly differentiating. But we also follow our intuition. For me, the two have never been in contradiction. Science and instincts are not opposites, they complement each other. The Osmologue is the most tangible expression of that: a high-precision blending system that makes personalization possible at a level no one else was offering. And beyond the technology, it's a way of thinking that we aim to share with our customers: rigorous, curious, always asking what's possible next. I'm especially drawn to the possibilities that biotechnology captives bring to fragrances. That's where part of the future of the industry lives, and it’s great to be part of the ones writing it.

Ex Nihilo is known for giving perfumers and artists carte blanche to interpret the founders’ vision. Why is that creative freedom so important to the brand?

When we work with a perfumer and give them 'carte blanche' (creative freedom), we trust them completely. That's how our scents Fleur Narcotique and Blue Talisman happened. You cannot create those kinds of results through control. The same goes for our artistic collaborations, we seek out people whose creative instincts we admire, and we let them surprise us. It's the only way to create something that has never existed before. And ultimately, that's what we aim to achieve.

EX NIHILO's Lust in Paradise Extrait de Parfum campaign

The idea of pushing the boundaries of fragrance creation is a core part of the brand’s identity. What does innovation in perfumery mean to you in 2026?

I think innovation in 2026 is not just about technology, it's also about meaning and intention. For us it has always meant putting everything into the product itself. Many brands spend large amounts on consumer studies; we wanted to put everything into the creation of the scent. For us, it's about experiences, not just what’s trending at the time. Today that translates into two things I'm particularly excited about: the continued evolution of personalization, where we are always imagining what the future of the Osmologue could be, and the extraordinary possibilities of biotechnology. Pioneering the use of new-generation natural extracts and biotechnology actives is how we push the boundaries of fragrance creation further, to craft the most addictive and distinctive fragrances. I think EX NIHILO is helping define what comes next and not just following along.

Ex Nihilo uses both “exceptional” natural ingredients and advanced synthetic materials. How do has the conversation around the use of both materials evolved in recent years?

The conversation has evolved significantly, and I think it’s become more nuanced and more honest. At EX NIHILO, we work with exceptional natural raw materials, that has always been fundamental to who we are. But working with naturals responsibly also means confronting some hard realities. Sourcing is touchy. Supply chains are vulnerable. The sustainability of a raw material, environmentally, socially, and in terms of safety, is something we have to think about carefully. 

As for synthetic ingredients, there is still a preconceived notion that it’s not safe because it’s not technically ‘natural’, and I can understand that. But the industry has done extraordinary work developing synthetics that are not only essential to formulation, but produced through responsible, green chemistry. They are not dangerous, they are carefully designed. And then there is a third category that’s really exciting: captives. These are proprietary molecules, patented, exclusive, that can be either natural or synthetic in origin. They represent a new generation of ingredients that genuinely expand the perfumer’s palette, while allowing us to formulate with greater awareness and intention. That is where I see the future taking shape.

All in all, we strive to use the best natural and synthetic raw materials without any cost constraint. What guides us is the quality, the emotion, and the creativity the ingredient unlocks. I think the most forward-thinking perfumers today share that view.

You have recently launched a new scent called Lust in Paradise. If I were to smell it for the first time, what memories, sensations or emotions would it invoke in me?

Lust in Paradise Extrait de Parfum is a very different experience from any other fragrance in our collection. When the original Eau de Parfum launched in 2018, it was a love letter to the Riviera: bright, luminous, free. Springlike warmth, lightness, femininity. 

Seven years later, we wanted to revisit that feeling through a completely different lens. The Extrait is sensual, enveloping, a richer, deeper, more opulent version of the same spirit. If the original was sunshine, the Extrait captures sunset. 

EX NIHILO's Lust in Paradise Extrait de Parfum campaign

How does Lust in Paradise fit within the wider EX NIHILO fragrance collection?

Lust in Paradise has been one of the house’s best-selling fragrances since its launch. Welcoming it into our Quintessence collection via the Extrait, in our most concentrated, most precious collection felt like a natural next step. It’s our way of honouring a fragrance that has meant so much to so many of our clients, while giving it a new interpretation that reflects where the House is today. There is also simply a growing demand for Extraits: people want that intensity, that longevity, that feeling of a fragrance that lives on the skin. 

Can you talk us through the key notes and ingredients. Some of them are unfamiliar to me. How did you discover and choose this specific composition?

The original Lust in Paradise was built around a luminous bouquet of peony and rose; so think radiant, feminine, sun-drenched. For the Extrait, we wanted to keep that floral identity but push it somewhere richer, more textured, more addictive.

New ingredients were introduced to bring that extra dimension. Blackcurrant adds a tart, slightly green freshness, a hint of red fruit and yumminess that gives the fragrance an irresistible opening. Jasmine brings a solar, white-floral Mediterranean warmth. And then there is akigalawood, a captive ingredient and derivative of patchouli, which introduces a spiced, woody facet that creates beautiful contrast with the warmth of the composition. Together, they make something that feels at once more opulent and more addictive than anything we’d done with this fragrance before.

Lust in Paradise was created with perfumer Louise Turner. What made her the right creative partner for this fragrance?

Louise Turner has a remarkable sensitivity to flowers, so she was the natural choice for the original Lust in Paradise, because the vision from the beginning was to express something extraordinarily luminous through a floral lens. She has a very specific gift for working with roses and peonies in a way that feels alive and modern rather than classic or heavy. The ambition was to reinterpret the Côte d’Azur through flowers and she did exactly that. For the Extrait, we naturally went back to her. There is something very coherent about having the original creator reinterpret their own work. She understood instinctively what needed to change and what had to remain.

How did the creation of Lust in Paradise begin, did Louise come with a well-defined idea already or was it more of a collaborative effort?

It always begins with us, with the House. We bring the creative concept, the brand’s vision, the story we want to tell. The perfumer’s role is then to reinterpret that world through scent. It’s a true collaboration, but the starting point is always ours. We work with the greatest perfumers in the industry, and what we ask of them is not just technical mastery but creative interpretation. Louise translated our concept into a beautiful scented creation.

Was there a particular ingredient or accord that unlocked the fragrance and defined its final character?

Without question, the blackcurrant and jasmine duo. Those two ingredients in dialogue with each other are what defines the soul of this Extrait. The blackcurrant brings something irresistible, tart, slightly acidic, a little gourmand, with a green freshness that immediately catches you. And the jasmine counters that with something solar and deeply Mediterranean, white-floral and sensual. Together they create a tension that is addictive.

EX NIHILO's pop-up space at Harrods

Why was Harrods the right location for the Lust in Paradise pop-up?

Our relationship with Harrods is undeniably one of the strongest we have with any retailer. They welcomed us from the very beginning and embraced our boldness and creativity without hesitation. Over the years we've built a genuine partnership, one that is rooted in the natural affinity between the brand and the Harrods customer, but also in exclusive creations that have become milestones for us. Brompton's Immortals Extrait is the perfect example: it has ranked as a bestseller across the entire Harrods perfumery, and we are extremely proud of that. The Harrods customer is also uncompromising when it comes to experience and quality, and that is precisely what makes it such a natural home for EX NIHILO.

How important is it for the brand to have a physical retail location?

Physical retail has always been central to who we are. When we started EX NIHILO in 2013 we set out to immediately establish our flagship store on rue Saint Honoré, which was completely unheard of for a small niche brand like us; now every major fragrance House is there! 

Retail is where the brand truly comes to life, where a customer can experience EX NIHILO in a way that no other channel can replicate. For a house built on personalization and creative boldness, that in-person encounter is the foundation. It is also where we build real connections, with our customers, with fragrance communities, with the culture of a city. Every boutique, every pop-up, every shop-in-shop presence is an opportunity to meet the people who love this brand, to understand what moves them, and to share in their passion for fragrance.

And beyond the experience itself, physical retail is how we expand our world. Each new location is a statement about where EX NIHILO belongs and how far our ambition reaches. We are very deliberate about where we open and with whom we partner, precisely because every space we choose says something about the house.

Can you tell me more about the pop-up space, how does it engage visitors?

The pop-up is designed as a fully experiential space, not simply a retail moment, but an invitation to discover the House in depth thanks to our incredible team. We showcase our bestsellers alongside some of our harder-to-find exclusives, giving visitors access to a breadth of the collection that goes well beyond what they might encounter elsewhere. At the heart of the experience is personalization. We offer raw material discovery and personalized Blue Talisman creations, which is a nod to our Osmologue at the Harrods Salon de Parfums, which remains one of the most engaging and genuinely unique experiences we offer as a brand. Alongside that, product discovery through sampling and exclusive gifts with purchase makes it easy to engage in conversations with visitors.

What made it truly special, though, was the human element. Having Benoît Verdier and I on the floor over the past few weeks engaging directly with content creators, fragrance enthusiasts and Harrods customers I think brought an intimacy and authenticity that you simply cannot replicate through product alone. That direct connection is something we hold onto very deliberately.

EX NIHILO's pop-up space at Harrods

You are very selective about your retail partners. How do you decide which retailers are the right fit for the brand?

We have always remained very exclusive in our distribution and have strict criteria to select our retail partners. We started with our own flagship and now five in the world (two in Paris, LA, Doha, HK) and are opening another four in the coming months (Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Saigon).

We also developed strong partnerships with the best-in-class retailers in key markets (Harrods, Selfridges and Liberty among others). This allows us to nurture a luxury clientele that has a great interest in beauty and particularly perfumes. We have our own teams in these stores, which is a key differentiator and allows us to provide a truly unique EX NIHILO experience. In a few of them we even have our personalization experience.

We also work with independent stores: criteria then is their level of expertise and engagement with the brand. Training is a major part of making these relationships successful.

Last but not least, we partner with a selection of concept stores such as the Webster that gives us access to a very curated, sophisticated and fashion lovers clientele, as well as celebrities.

Can you tell me more about the Osmologue? What role does it play in your retail strategy, and what does it add to a consumer’s fragrance journey?

The Osmologue is really the heart of what makes EX NIHILO unlike anything else in the market. Its name comes from the ancient Greek science of osmology, the science of scents, and the technology itself is entirely exclusive to us. In practical terms, it is a high-precision blending system that allows us to personalize fragrances with exceptional raw materials, right in front of the customer, in minutes. The ingredients are selected by our master perfumers for their extraordinary quality and their ability to marry seamlessly with their original creations.

But what the Osmologue really does is bring the customer into the creative process. For the very first time, someone can experience something that has always belonged exclusively to the world of perfumers. Every creation is weighed, filtered, bottled and finished by one of our specialists, and leaves with a numbered, signed certificate of authenticity. In terms of retail strategy, it is our most powerful differentiator. It transforms a point of sale into a destination, a reason to come, to stay, to return. And for the customer, it adds an entirely new dimension to their fragrance journey: their scent is no longer something they chose off a shelf, but something that was created for them, that reveals something about who they are.

Who is the Ex Nihilo customer today?

The EX NIHILO customer today is wonderfully diverse. At one end, you have the true niche aficionado, someone deeply knowledgeable, who seeks out the unexpected, who wants a fragrance that says something no mainstream House could say. At the other, you have a new generation of fragrance enthusiasts discovering the category for the first time through content creators and digital culture, and arriving already educated, already curious, and very demanding. They all want a unique fragrance, a genuine experience, something that belongs to them. This is true of our luxury customers too, people for whom quality and exclusivity are non-negotiable, who choose EX NIHILO precisely because it offers something that no heritage or designer house can: the combination of French luxury codes with true creative boldness and personalization. We also see a growing community of collectors around the world, people who relate to EX NIHILO not just as a perfume house but as a cultural object worth investing in.

One of the most exciting shifts we are witnessing is the rise of the male customer. Men are increasingly tying their fragrance choices to their identity in a very deliberate, very personal way and they are bringing the same level of connoisseurship to the category that was once linked to a much smaller audience. And across all of these communities, our customers are getting younger. A new generation is coming to niche perfumery earlier than ever before, with higher expectations and a genuine passion for the craft. That is one of the most encouraging signs of where the industry is heading.

Which brands do you see as peers in the niche fragrance space, and how would you describe Ex Nihilo’s position among them?

The niche fragrance space has grown enormously over the past decade, and there are houses we deeply respect, brands that, like us, have chosen creative integrity over mass appeal and have built genuine communities around their work. 

But what I find most interesting is not where EX NIHILO sits relative to others, it is what makes us distinct. We are, at our core, a house that looks forward. Many Maisons in this space draw their identity from heritage, from archive, from a sense of nostalgia. We have always drawn ours from invention et avant-garde. The Osmologue, our approach to biotechnology, our collaborations, these are not add-ons to the brand, they are what makes the brand unique.

If I had to describe our position, I would say we occupy a space that very few others do: resolutely French in our Haute Parfumerie sensibility, but genuinely avant-garde in practice. We have ambition, we have scale, and we have a differentiating point of view. That combination, I think, is what sets us apart.

What opportunities in fragrance innovation are you most excited about over the next decade?

There are two areas that genuinely excite me when I think about the next decade. The first is formulation. We are already exploring new territories here, for example micro-emulsion techniques and alcohol-free formats, which our GENERATION(S) Eau de Parfum offers. These open up entirely new ways of wearing and experiencing fragrance.

The second is ingredients. The future of perfumery will be written with materials we are only just beginning to understand. A good example is what we are working on with natural upcycling, our strawberry alcoolate is a perfect illustration: taking what would otherwise be discarded and transforming it into something extraordinary (Spiky Muse Eau de Parfum). It speaks to both creativity and responsibility at once.

More broadly, what drives me is the idea of rethinking fragrance application itself, asking what new forms, new rituals, new gestures are possible when you start with a truly novel ingredient or technology. That is the question I find most compelling, and one I believe EX NIHILO is genuinely trying to answer.