Carlos Huber on Bringing Together The Worlds Of Architecture & Perfumery For An Immersive Experience
This perfumer believes fragrance should be a full experience and has taken on the charge to make it so.
Words & Photography, Marcus Richardson
Carlos is a storyteller at his core and a man who is truly passionate about his work and life in general. With a contagious smile on his face, Carlos enthusiastically begins conversation promising that he will make sense of his title as Architect and Fragrance Developer.
Originally from Mexico City, Huber studied architecture and specialized in Historic preservation which led into a career in architecture, preservation, and interior design. Eventually, after making the big move to New York City, Carlos met perfumer, Rodrigo Flores. Rodrigo was the gatekeeper who brought Carlos into the world of perfumery. “I was always noticing smells.” he says. “I loved going to the beach or the forest or a city and noticing how those locations smell”.
Quickly after becoming friends, Rodrigo took Carlos under his wing awakening Carlos’s understanding of historic preservation and fragrance. With Carlos’s training in preservation, storytelling came naturally to him as did the eagerness and desire to do the research required to paint a full picture - from clues to historic and cultural awareness.
As his knowledge in fragrance grew, so did his vision for a new endeavor in the world of fragrance development. “In preservation, I learned how to research a specific time and a specific place. Researching a building, and then based on the clues of the space and construction materials, finding out the full story and how we wanted to launch it into the future and present day.” he says. “I thought, what if we could do that with scents. I wanted it to be more than just a fantasy.”
After receiving the blessing and encouragement from his mentors, ARQUISTE was born in 2011.
“
Everyone picks up scents but we all read them differently and it’s either a response of attraction or repulsion but once you are able to identify the notes, I think it makes things a little more colorful.
”
With authentic enthusiasm, Carlos takes us into the history of this fragrance, painting a visual picture of Indian garments crossing seas, European elites and the nightstands of seductive courtesans. Training is clearly important. The ability to identify notes to refine each fragrance properly, and also the gift of developing a story is what makes any ARQUISTE fragrance an immersive experience. “Everyone picks up scents but we all read them differently, and it’s either a response of attraction or repulsion.” he says. “Once you are able to identify the notes, I think it makes things a little more colorful.”
Growing up in Mexico City, Carlos was blessed to experience a modern city with a rich history exposed to entrepreneurship. An upbringing that contributed to his sensitivity to history and the importance of preserving it. “Nostalgia is such a huge part of the colorful story I’m trying to tell. There’s a scent that’s based on Mexican flowers and while its story is based on pre-hispanic Mexico, for me, the emotional connection to it reminds me of the flowers my mom would get when I was growing up.” he says. “It reminds me of home. For someone from the south, magnolias would do the same and what this means is that there is a collective truth in all of our individual stories that should be uniting us.”
Listen To The Full Podcast:
iTunes | Spotify | Podcast Co.