Frédéric Malle believes fragrance plays a vital role in seduction. “You want to smell good when you are in bed with someone,” the veteran perfumer says from his home in New York. Wearing a crisp white button-up shirt and his hair flicked up into a quiff, the 61-year-old looks like he knows a thing or two about the subject.

”I fell in love with so many girls and in those days, every single French girl was wearing a perfume. It taught me a lot about who was wearing what. I realised that there was a correlation between character and scent.”