Journey of an autodidact

In the warmth of Andalusia, the scents of orange blossom, jasmine, rosemary and incense bathed his entire youth.

Before heading off to school, it was customary to comb one's hair and apply cologne, which was sold by the liter at the pharmacy. This clean, cologne-like scent was the first fragrance to awaken his senses. Having followed his parents into exile in Switzerland when he was only 11 years old, Alberto Morillas continued to frequent perfume shops, which at the time was rather unusual for boys his age. His fascination with Old Spice, its cinnamon and spice scents, and later Dior's Eau Sauvage and Caron's Un Homme, were the first perfumes he wore of his own volition.

He was unaware, however, that behind each of them lay a creator and, consequently, a profession. The turning point came in 1970, while he was pursuing his studies at the Geneva School of Fine Arts. Reading a portrait of Jean-Paul Guerlain in Vogue radically changed his perception of the perfumer's craft. Without a doctorate in chemistry, he nevertheless managed to convince Firmenich to offer him a position in scientific research on natural essences, directed by Dr. Säuberli. In direct contact with the creators who entered the laboratory, Alberto Morillas honed his knowledge of fine perfumery and began secretly composing his own perfumes, despite the prohibition. Defying the existing rules, he undertook to present his first fragrance to the company's management—an act that marked his entry into the world of perfumery.

Intrigued and surprised, Firmenich then offered the young man, who "created perfumes without being a perfumer," the opportunity to cross the Atlantic and pursue specialized training in New York. He earned the title of Perfumer in 1977 and that of Master Perfumer in 1998.