Perfume Room 185. VIRGINIA BONOFIGLIO ~ So You Want a Degree in Fragrance!
Aug 12, 2025
Virginia Bonofiglio, the Associate Chairperson of FIT's Cosmetics & Fragrance Marketing program, shares her 40+ years of expertise in the fragrance industry. She reveals her unexpected journey into perfumery and her pivotal role in shaping the fragrance curriculum at FIT. Virginia discusses the integration of AI and biotech in education, and highlights emerging trends among Gen Z scent preferences. She emphasizes that a variety of career paths in fragrance await graduates and encourages aspiring perfumers to pursue their passions.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Fragrance Mirrors Local Culture
- Virginia believes fragrance reflects culture and that scent preferences are highly local, making universal hits rare.
- She contrasts an 'American nose' favoring cheerful fruity-florals with a French taste for more mysterious, somber scents.
How Virginia Entered Perfumery
- Virginia was hired as a technician because she spoke French and could understand a visiting French perfumer.
- She learned by working directly with Jean-Paul Bode and doing hands-on lab tasks under his mentorship.
Learning Perfume By Smell And Mistakes
- Virginia describes learning perfumery by practical repetition, including mistakes like leaving blotters in her coat pocket.
- Her mentor taught her by ear and smell, which shaped her patient, research-like approach.