“It is one of the most precious joys of my life,” says Renaud Salmon of travel — a sentiment that feels especially fitting coming from the Chief Creative Officer of Amouage, a perfume house renowned for its evocative, far-reaching narratives. Since joining the Omani brand in 2019, Salmon has redefined its creative direction with a modern sensibility rooted in storytelling, craftsmanship and a deep connection to place.
Originally trained in business and engineering, the Belgian native began his career in luxury leather goods at Delvaux and Louis Vuitton, before moving into fragrance development. He went on to help create cult hits like Perfect by Marc Jacobs and Dolce by Dolce & Gabbana. Yet it’s in Muscat, Oman that Salmon seems most at home, channelling the country’s natural beauty into some of Amouage’s most ambitious olfactory works.
His latest creation is no exception. Inspired by a personal journey to Jebel Shams, Oman’s highest peak, Salmon and perfumer Quentin Bisch translated the mystical atmosphere of the mountain into a duo of new fragrances: Decision and Existence. With gnarled juniper trees, thick clouds, and moments of almost spiritual clarity shaping the compositions, these scents reflect Salmon’s unique approach to perfumery, inspired by his instinct and memory.
Schön! alive speaks to Salmon to trace how the country’s raw landscapes and ancient myths became scent.
You’ve been living in Oman for a while now, and it felt clear to me how the country — the landscape, the nature around it — shaped the work. With Decision and Existence, you’re closing The Odyssey Collection. Before we get into the fragrances themselves, what did it mean to you personally to bring this chapter to an end?
For me, it’s an end, because it’s the end of the story I wanted to tell when I arrived in Oman. And, you know, my journey in Oman is not ending — however, in my mind, the collection now feels complete. I feel like every chapter, from an olfactory point of view, contributed to telling that story of being high-born, then liberating, then escaping, and that felt a bit like a climax, if that makes sense. This last chapter is more about eternity. It’s a soft landing from very high.
You’ve mentioned climbing Jebel Shams and feeling both connected to the earth and as though you were floating. How did that experience spark the initial idea for Decision and Existence?
When I hike or run in Oman, at some point you lose awareness of your body — what you’re doing becomes mechanical, and your mind leaves your body. It felt a bit like an out-of-body experience. In one of those special moments, you feel completely in tune with nature and can reflect deeply on your life, the stories you’d like to tell through fragrance. I realised that something I personally experience can be part of a bigger pattern many people have at some point in their life. Two types of energy came to mind: one driven and vertical — Decision — and the other contemplative and horizontal — Existence. One about resilience, the other about contemplation.
You’ve described the ancient juniper trees you saw on the mountain — ‘survivors of lightning strikes, their twisted branches like sculptures.’ Why did they resonate so much, and how did you want that to come across when anyone sprays Decision?
Juniper trees feel like sculptures, they barely have any foliage, yet they’re so vibrant. They’re on the edge of life and death at the same time. I wanted to capture the spirit of a tree on the brink—alive and almost petrified. Juniper wood oil has both spicy, berry-like qualities and woody facets. It sits in between aromatic and woody notes, so it became our keynote for Decision.
When you were collaborating with Quentin Bisch on Decision, was it an immediate choice to use juniper as the keynote? How did that come about?
I told Quentin the story, and the first accord he created was the lightning: metallic, vertical, very dry, vibrant and sparking. I loved it, but it was missing life. It told the story of the strike, but not of the tree after impact. Then Quentin added balsamic notes and vanilla, which brought warmth and resilience — the idea that you can be struck by lightning in life, but it’s your decision to keep growing.
Existence deals with a more abstract, endless feeling — how did you and Quentin turn that idea of infinite horizontality into a wearable fragrance?
If Decision is vertical, Existence is horizontal — like being surrounded by a sea of clouds, where you can’t tell reality from imagination. We wanted a blurred, white landscape in scent. The lily of the valley was essential because it reminded me of my childhood when I was around the 1st of May, I was picking lilies in the garden, and I was selling them on a small plastic table on the street. We recreated that memory and I told Quentin, “Wow, this is so photorealistic.”And I love that dichotomy between hyper realism, imagination and memories. The musks blurred the picture, and the incense and balsams added touches of warmth, so you actually get something that gets very cloudy.
How do Decision and Existence together bring closure to The Odyssey Collection?
They feel like the end of an exploration to me, where your senses are hyper-receptive because of the isolation and extremity of the environment. It’s something I wanted to convey in the bottles and to recreate this same feeling with their colour. I studied Chinese monochromatic ceramic, and I was really blown away by the fact that because Chinese ceramic is so pure and so white, a single drop of colour is going to actually impact the whole ceramic. Both fragrances come from white, but each drop of note resonates differently.
Speaking of the bottles and visuals, you’ve worked with Louise Mertens for several years. How did you bring your vision to the actual flacon designs?
Louise and I built natural compositions — sculptures of rock, sand, clouds — in the studio, then she layered her digital artwork on top. That addition is there to blur the lines between reality and imagination, so that it feels very cohesive with the approach when it comes to the fragrances.
The Odyssey Collection ends here, but you’re already thinking ahead. Are there new places or themes calling you for the next fragrance?
From a romantic point of view, I’ve wondering about the afterlife. Creating a little bit of dystopian tension between the thematic of afterlife and at the same time, the idea of something extremely rooted in the traditions of Oman, I think could offer a super interesting contrast from a fragrance point of view, but also from an aesthetic point of view.
How do you hope people will emotionally connect to Decision and Existence?
I want people to feel these fragrances — to perceive their texture, their behaviour, their volume. Each has its own personality. I really want people to connect at a deeper level with those fragrances, through their materiality. I hope they trigger memories, it might be a good memory or a bit of a sad memory sometimes, but I think it’s okay, because not every single fragrance is supposed to make you feel sexy or successful. Fragrance is such a powerful medium; reliving a forgotten moment is the greatest gift.
Was there a memorable or unexpected moment during your creative process with Quentin?
Yes, actually. Quentin and I sat at the top of the mountain, ready to watch the sunset. He said, “Close your eyes. Let’s be aware of the moment.” We closed our eyes and started smelling and then a herd of goats appeared. For a moment, all we could smell was goat. We laughed and took pictures. It was a beautiful moment fully in harmony with nature, and I just realised that life is everywhere.
Finally, do you already have an adventure in mind for what’s next for Amouage? Are there new things you’re exploring?
I mean, I’m definitely exploring. I’m working on a lot of things. With Quentin, we’ve been talking quite a bit about incense — like, really going deeper into it. You might think Amouage is always about incense and sound, but actually, Amouage is more about fragrances. And now we’re looking at it from another angle: incense as something you burn to create a connection between the living and the divine. That got us curious. What do people burn in different parts of the world? In Mexico, it’s copal. In Japan, it’s different woods. In parts of Africa, people burn all sorts of woods. So yeah, there’s something really interesting there — something we want to explore.
Decision and Existence are available now online and in select boutiques.
photography. Amouage
words. Gennaro Costanzo
