Who we are
Grasse Institute of Perfumery is a unique and prestigious school located in the birthplace of the world’s capital of perfume: Grasse.
The knowledge and the secrets of the fragrant plants and the creation persist from generation to generation in Grasse. The GIP was founded in 2002 by PRODAROM – the French Trade Union of Fragrance Manufacturers from the desire to transmit this living heritage by sharing it with passionate people.
Our school was built on two important topics: Passion and Experience. In our program, we favor small groups and attach great importance to lab practice. The training is not academic: each lecturer is a professional, having worked in the industry for many years.
With more than 1100 trainees and 70 different nationalities, received during the last 15 years, the Grasse Institute of Perfumery wants to shine the art of Perfumery and its birthplace Grasse with people willing to learn. Grasse, was officially awarded in 2018 “World Heritage Status”, joining UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Grasse’s unique perfumery « savoir-faire » includes the cultivation of perfume plants, the knowledge and processing of natural raw materials, and the art of perfume composition.
The school takes place in a comfortable and amazing environment. It is located five minutes from the historical town center, in an early 20th century Provencal style house, which was a perfumer’s house in the past.
Our values
Passion
Perfumery is an art like any other. The process of creation takes deep understanding, creativity, expressivity, and soul. It is a relationship and understanding between the artist and his materials. Bringing ingredients together to tell a story. Our community of industry professional teachers are passionate about telling those fragrant stories and teaching the new generation of perfumers how to do the same. Grasse has been the birth place of a diverse range of perfumers, profiles, and agricultural standards. A special journey full of expertise and true industry experiences are guaranteed here.
Community
Each year our administration accepts passionate students from countries all over the world, making it a diverse student body and exciting cultural community. The various topics in perfumery, cosmetics, and flavor are all touched upon by expert staff from Grasse’s very own working communities.
Quality
Our courses are designed to create a foundation that our students can build upon. No matter what students prior industry knowledge is: we train, lecture, and practice real industry applications to ensure a training course that will set students up to start working immediately after graduation.
Engagement
The ancient process of perfume creation has evolved immensely over hundreds of years. At Grasse Institute of Perfumery we teach our students the history of fragrance and link it to modern day perfumery as we know it. Grasse being the historical epicenter of flowers and fragrance sets our school and location apart from all others. Throughout our various courses – we go on trips to museums, sights, fragrance houses, production facilities, and visit the fields of generational farmers. We proudly share with our students the heritage of perfumery past and present!
Our story
2002
Creation of the school.
2003
First short course – Summer school.
2006
First course in Japan.
2013
First educational trip abroad of our Perfumer – Evaluator Class.
2015
Opening of the short courses in RUSSIA.
2016
Partnership with the UMP (University Malaysia Pahang) and BiotechCorp.
First erasmus exchange with greek teachers.
Partnership with UTTAR PRADESH Skill development mission (India).
2018
Short courses proposed in CHINA (Shanghai – Hangzhou).
2019
New long term: Technical Assistant in Fragrance, Flavour and cosmetic.
Partnership with the EWHA WOMANS UNIVERSITY in Korea.
Short course proposed in Korea (Seoul and Jeju).
2020
Opening of the first on-line courses.
2021
Short courses proposed in TAIWAN (Taipei and Kaohsiung).
2024
Short courses proposed in DUBAI.
Materials and lecturers
Lessons are held in large laboratories. 3 perfumer labs equipped with perfumer’s organs, 1 cosmetic lab, 1 flavor lab and a chemistry lab.
The Institute hosts a collection of more than 800 natural and synthetic raw materials and around 300 perfumes. Our lecturers are all experienced perfumers or technicians from prestigious companies such as Givaudan, IFF, Mane, Robertet, Charabot…
Partners
We work all of the year with a large number of companies and growers which are involved in the perfumery world.
Our team
Philippe MASSÉ
President
Alain FERRO
Director
Fabienne MAILLOT
International training manager
Marion MENZER
Communication officer
Angélina LEWERS
Lab assistant
Lecturers
Marianne NAWROCKI
Synthetic Raw Material and Natural Raw material
Joëlle LERIOUX PATRIS
Perfumer
LE PARFUMEUR FRANÇAIS
Elisabeth PROAL
(Ex Chanel)
Natural Raw material and regulation
Laure DZIUBA
(Ex Symrise)
Chemistry
Anne Cécile DOUVEGHEANT
PCW
Evaluation / Genealogy of perfumes
Patrick BODIFÉE
SFA Romani
Independant perfumer
Raymond KERVERDO
Ex Robertet
Cosmetics application
Véronique WITTLING
Argeville
Marketing
Max GAVARRY
Senior Perfumer – Ex IFF
Rosalie MOULET
Perfumer – SYNAE COLLECTION
PRODAROM, the French Trade Union of Fragrance Manufacturers, created the school to offer a professional level of training and to share this french know-how with the world.
We are a member of Grasse Expertise.
Grasse Expertise unites Professionals from the fragrance and flavors industries of Grasse.
We are a member of Grasse Campus.
Grasse Campus is a regional multi-site campus which hosts higher education students, teachers and researchers and provides them with rooms and materials to offer them the best possible conditions for study.
We are a member of ARMIP.
ARMIP’s main goals are to promote and enhance the International Museum of Perfumery and to contribute to its animation for the different audiences for which it is intended.