It was evident five minutes into my interview with Marc Chaya, the president, CEO and co-founder of luxury perfume house Maison Francis Kurkdjian (MFK) Paris that he is a magnet for attention. There are many factors to admire about Chaya of course – this Lebanon native is handsome, suave, dresses immaculately and smells good. Then there is that endearing smile and charming personality.

There is plenty to respect about Chaya when it comes to his capabilities as well. Having joined Ernst & Young in 1997, he assumed the role of partner within a span of nine years. He has gained the distinction of being one of the youngest partners in the company, and was appointed the global telecommunications market leader at the age of 32. His life took on a different turn upon attending a fashion show and meeting a man who would change his career from then onwards.

“I was seated next to this gentleman and as social manners dictate, I asked him questions about his work. He described himself as a perfume designer and talked in detail about the list of perfumes he had a hand in creating, such as Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea, Narciso Rodriguez’s For Him and For Her, as well as all of the perfumes for Jean Paul Gaultier. I stopped him halfway and asked, ‘Sorry to interrupt but who are you again? What is your name?’” reminisces Chaya. “It was Francis Kurkdjian (pronounced koor-zhan). I realised after our conversation, here is an artist in every sense of the word and yet he is hidden completely from public knowledge.”

The two men quickly formed a friendship and became regular travel companions from that evening onwards. Chaya, who was an avid collector of modern arts, could not accept the fact that his friend’s talent should be enshrouded in favour of corporate branding and profits. Putting his years devising business strategies into good use, Chaya developed a business plan for a luxury perfume brand in his friend’s name, believing Kurkdjian should receive the recognition he deserved as a creative perfumer.

“In the luxury business, you have to think and act on the basis that you want long-term success. It took us a very long time to work on a multi-step approach so that Francis could attain a reputation of a celebrated perfumer outside of Paris,” explains Chaya. Fortunately, Chaya and Kurkdjian made an excellent team together. “He is the left brain, and I am the right brain. Put simply, he deals with the creative aspect of our company, while I work on the business development and strategy side.”

Starting up with an empty canvas was indeed very tough, as Chaya relates a past snub he faced when the maison was just in its infancy: “I met a buyer of a prominent department store in New York, with nothing to show her but a trend book and profile on the perfumer. She was very rude to us and told us in no uncertain terms that the company was not interested in us. We managed to sign up with other stores exclusively and launched successfully in the US despite this obstacle. One year later, the senior vice president of the first departmental store wrote to me, asking for us to launch our perfumes with them as he saw a potential in our brand, being a user himself. I had to tell him apologetically of the rudeness I experienced with his buyer, although we did not discount the idea of working with them in the future when the time was right.”

Today, the fragrances are now available in a majority of the world’s most notable stores such as Bergdorf Goodman, Selfridges and Isetan – a great success indeed considering the fact that the brand has only been in the scene for approximately four years. In Malaysia, Kurkdjian’s bestselling fragrances such as Aqua Universalis and APOM are available at Isetan KLCC. Chaya and Kurkdjian have proven that all it takes for success to be achieved is commitment, persistence and having incessant faith in the work that you do. 

This article has appeared in the February 2013 issue of Malaysia Tatler.