Cio Cio San

Cio Cio San is the happy result of Cécile Zarokian’s work on an unusual brief: that of an imaginary Japan.

Cécile has perfectly captured a fragrance that evokes the Far East, more precisely Japan. After spending years collecting ancient Japanese woodprints, Parfums MDCI founder, Claude Marchal was naturally fascinated by Japanese art in general and became intrigued with the challenge of creating a fragrance built around the theme.

Cécile’s creation answered his request perfectly and Claude immediately fell in love with what became “Cio Cio San” - his occidental vision of an imaginary Japan. Cio Cio San comes from Puccini’s Opera Madame Butterfly, in which the heroine, Cio Cio San (literally, Madame Butterfly), a lovely young Japanese woman, is seduced and later cowardly abandoned by the U.S. Naval Officer Pinkerton.

Claude’s Cio Cio San is however a happier story that conjures up images of springtime in Nara, temples, artfully tended gardens, precious silks, tea houses, out-of-this-world geishas… All beautiful images, (Ukiyo-e, or “images of the floating world”, as the famous woodblock prints are called) that help us travel and dream.

Perfumer: Cécile Zarokian