about
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about *
About
Iris & Morphée, founded by perfumer Carole Calvez, is an olfactory design studio-laboratory devoted to crafting bespoke multisensory experiences that explore the evocative power of scent.
With a focus on art, design and culture, Iris & Morphée supports museums, cultural institutions, and exhibition designers at every stage of incorporating scent into their exhibitions, events, and interpretive programs.
From the creation of scents and olfactory storytelling to the research, production, and installation of poetic, innovative diffusion systems, Iris & Morphée offers immersive, playful experiences. Its expertise also includes training in the sense of smell, a powerful channel for emotion and meaning.
exhibition scenographies
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mediations
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olfactory reconstructions
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artistic collaborations
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object designs
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exhibition scenographies * mediations * olfactory reconstructions * artistic collaborations * object designs *
Approach
Carole Calvez, perfumer and olfactory designer, has made scent a medium in its own right. For her, it's not just about working with the perception of smells, but about creating a true sensory exploration, a means of immersing oneself in stories, travelling through time and space, and evoking emotions.
To do this, Carole Calvez adopts a scientific approach, underpinned by artistic sensitivity. Before even considering or composing the fragrance formula, she conducts historical research, carries out interviews, and creates scent samples. Then comes the hands-on work in the studio: selecting, blending, weighing, heating, macerating, assessing, waiting, and fine-tuning each note until she achieves the precise balance required to craft a bespoke fragrance.
In addition to creating scents, she also designs the systems that bring them to life: objects, installations, scenography... Her overall approach is carefully thought out to ensure that the scent and its medium harmonize with both the space and the narrative. To this end, Carole Calvez has developed an olfactory material library, a research initiative dedicated to the development of innovative scent diffusion systems.
Her laboratory-studio is a true transdisciplinary research and creation space. It is here that Carole Calvez explores, in particular, olfactory heritage at the intersection of art and science, collaborating with historians, archaeologists, and researchers in a sensitive quest for historical truth.
Carole Calvez reinvents how we interpret the world through scent. She undertakes 360° research and creation around smell, exploring its full creative potential. Her aim is to transform and enrich perception by creating unique sensory and narrative experiences.
Biography
Carole Calvez has always had a passion for the world of fragrance. After studying pharmacy, specializing in cosmetics, and earning an MBA in luxury marketing, she joined the Givaudan fragrance house, where she first began creating scents and translating a wide range of olfactory universes into words and images. In 2017, she completed her perfumery training at the Cinquième Sens Institute in Paris.
In 2019, she founded Iris & Morphée, an olfactory design studio-laboratory based at JAD (Jardin des Métiers d'Art et du Design) in Sèvres.
Carole Calvez creates exhibition scenographies and olfactory mediations, and is regularly commissioned by major scenography and architecture agencies and institutions such as the Louvre Museum, the National Maritime Museum, Villa Savoye, the Museum of Air and Space, the Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, the Museum of Confluences, and the Manufacture de Sèvres.
As a perfumer-creator, she also embarks on an independent exploration of the sense of smell. Her olfactory creations (installations, performances, objects) have been presented at prestigious events such as Milano Design Week (IT) and Art Basel Paris, as well as in cultural institutions like the Bard Museum (US), Moesgaard Museum (DK), the Neuchâtel Museum of Natural History (CH), and La Friche La Belle de Mai.
In 2025, she was awarded the Mira grant (International Artistic Research Mobility) from the Institut Français, in collaboration with Marie Levoyet. This continues her ongoing collaborative approach with artists (such as Brognon & Rollin, Emeka Ogboh, Anaïs Tondeur) and designers (such as Marta Bakowski, Tony Jouanneau, Cécile Planchais).
She also collaborates with scientists, historians, and archaeologists on olfactory reconstructions inspired by the past (including Erika Wicky, Barbara Huber from the Max Planck Institute, Cecilia Bembibre from the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage, and Lavoue Guillaume from Centrale Lyon ENISE).
An active member of the Nez en Herbe association since 2018 and of ICOM (International Council of Museums), Carole Calvez joined the European Odeuropa project in 2022, dedicated to the study of olfactory heritage and sensory research.