Creating a canvas for life and fragrance in Shanghai
Print Edition
WHEN most people choose their next city, they are often swayed by convenience or opportunity. But for Frenchman Luc Berriet, Shanghai wasn’t just a career move but a calling.
After five years in Singapore and an enticing offer to transfer to New York or Sao Paulo, he chose instead to follow a deep curiosity for China and the sense that Shanghai’s timing was serendipitously perfect.
Berriet works as a senior fragrance development director for Dsm-Firmenich, in charge of the fine fragrance and premium fragrance experience for Asia. The company creates fragrances and scents for many major perfume brands in the world, and he looks after Asian brands with his team.
As his old rented flat was sold, Berriet recently moved into the current 300-square-meter apartment after a whirlwind home search.
“I was amazed by the sweeping views outside the window of the city skyline and Suzhou Creek. I felt like I was floating over the city,” Berriet recalled the first time he walked through the door.
The light-filled space, free of furniture and distractions, felt like a blank canvas — a fitting metaphor for someone who builds olfactory worlds for a living.
Berriet’s work revolves around imagination, emotion and sensorial storytelling. And this carries into the home, where art, scent and texture intertwine.
“I need peace and serenity,” he said, “but I also need space — to create, to welcome friends, to play with looks through my fashion outfits, and to live among art pieces that mean something to me.”
The flat had been recently refurbished, so Berriet didn’t need to make many changes to the space.
“I still consider it a work in progress and enjoy wandering through art galleries and flea markets to slowly bring it to life,” he said.
When he first moved in, the priority was furnishing the space. Thanks to a few architect friends in China, he quickly connected with suppliers who helped him find pieces he loved. He already owned several items from France, but was amazed at how, within just two months, everything found its place and how seamlessly the old blended with the new to create a true sense of home.
Once he’d ordered furniture, the terrace became his main focus. He installed a wooden deck and carefully chose a mix of plants and flowers. Osmanthus, jasmine, roses and lavender add layers of scent, while olive, lemon and mandarin trees bring a Mediterranean touch.
The vision was “Marrakesh meets Shanghai” — a tranquil space for morning coffee or, “as my Italian friends call it, the aperitivo. They even convinced me to add a BBQ, and now Sunday brunches outdoors have become a favorite ritual among friends,” Berriet said.
The apartment’s spacious layout supports both social life and solitude.
Berriet loves that the sunrise gently wakes him each morning, while the living room becomes a stage for breathtaking sunsets, bathing the entire home in golden light. By night, the city sparkles — buildings and bridges aglow — offering a mesmerizing view.
The open-plan living room is anchored by a plush gray sofa, enriched with books and textures, while the master bedroom embraces a different esthetic, where Tibetan furniture rests alongside a serene Buddha and cherished family photographs, offering a quiet personal retreat.
Though not a trained designer, Berriet’s approach to decor is deeply intuitive.
“I’m not interested in copying a magazine. I want my home to reflect who I am and the journey I’ve been on,” he said.
“Many of the decorative elements in my home were collected from around the world and hold deep personal meaning, each tied to a memory or emotion.”
Art plays a central role in the space, and he enjoys mixing styles and mediums to create a layered, expressive environment. A striking piece of a towering 3-meter painting by David Rodriguez of a woman’s form dominates the living area, a birthday gift from the artist himself.
One of his most recent acquisitions is a piece from Sabrina Jauffret, a French artist and close friend living in Shanghai, whose work explores texture through paper and fabric.
Each corner tells a story: A Virgin Mary statue from a Mumbai flea market offers quiet reverence; a Chinese statue, said to be the palace’s head eunuch, stands alongside statues from Africa, Brazil, and Myanmar; a lithograph by Eric Fischl, a cherished gift for his 30th birthday, hangs nearby.
Countless other objects, gathered from across the globe, weave together a narrative of travel, memory and meaning.
And one highlight of the flat is the smell. Each space is perfumed with a scent chosen to evoke memory and mood.
“I use the same scent every night in my bedroom, and even take it with me when I travel. It makes any hotel room feel like home,” Berriet said.
“In Morocco, they put some orange flower oils on the visitors’ hands to welcome them. In my flat, I welcome them with perfumes in the air.”
More than just a home, the apartment is also a working place — one where fragrance creation happens away from the formalities of a corporate office.
“I even host meetings here now because the atmosphere allows for deeper, calmer conversations.”
A spare bedroom is set to become his dedicated art studio reviving a long-lost passion for painting that was paused during the years in Singapore.
“The extra space gives me the chance to reconnect with a passion I’ve long set aside,” he said.
Of course, there’s also a walk-in closet — “a little more superficial,” he pointed out, “but essential.” A self-professed fashion addict, Berriet delights in dressing as a form of expression, just like the rest of his home.
“I call it home, even though I know one day I will leave China. Surrounded by mementos of my journey, this flat — still a work in progress — remains a blank canvas where new memories are waiting to be written.”
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