Dominique Ropion is a daring perfectionist, a true inventor. The risks he takes are invariably accompanied by a relentless pursuit of exact olfactory balance and flawless composition. His perfumes are like great architectural feats: in the same way that a bridge, whose seemingly miraculous suspension of weight is in fact a harnessing of counteracting forces, Dominique often balances excessive doses of powerful ingredients with meticulously-measured, subtler accords, until the composition holds up on its own. A good perfume, he likes to say, must always appear obvious.