Francis Kurkdjian just reinvented Miss Dior—and I was one of the first to smell the new perfume

As a beauty editor who specialises in all things perfume and scent, I was somewhat taken aback when I heard the news that Dior was working on a new iteration of what is one of the most popular perfumes in the UK—Miss Dior. While I knew that Dior naming Francis Kurkdjian as Perfume Creation Director back in 2021 would have meant a flurry of new takes on some of the houses most iconic scents (last year's launch of Dior J'adore L'Or was the first), the fact that Dior had tasked Kurkdjian with a new iteration of Miss Dior still took me by surprise.

You see, while Miss Dior is a fruity, floral perfume that has been reinvented time and time again, the Eau de Parfum which launched in 2021 has without question been one of the House's most triumphant creations in history. It has sat at the top of bestsellers lists in the UK month after month, with no signs of popularity dwindling. And while I am assured the existing Miss Dior Eau de Parfum will sit on shelves alongside the new Parfum, my main question to both Dior and Kurkdjian was this: why launch a new Miss Dior now, when Dior is already onto something so, so good with its current offering?

But then I smelled it, and all of my concerns danced out of my brain and were replaced with all-encompassing admiration for both the house and Kurkdjian himself. The all-new Miss Dior Parfum is nothing short of a feat. It possesses the fruity familiarity of Miss Dior that has transcended generations and the sweet, skin-like warmth that keeps the most recent Eau de Parfum selling like hotcakes, but with it comes something entirely new and special. It is swirling with a deep, carnal edge that makes you want to smash out the spray mechanism and pour the contents all over your bare skin.

Miss Dior Parfum excites me. In fact, I believe it will excite just about anyone who smells it—existing fans of Miss Dior and newcomers, alike. So, to get to the bottom of just how and, more importantly, why the new Miss Dior Parfum was created, I sat down with the man you may know as the creator of Baccarat Rouge 540 but I know as the world's best nose—Francis Kurkdjian.

The history of Miss Dior

Miss Dior was the first perfume ever created by Christian Dior—all the way back in 1947. "It is about the spirit of youth, the spirit of sensuality," says Francis. Catherine Dior (Christian Dior's sister) is known to have said: "Miss Dior? The young perfume of the House forever."

But the juice of 1947, of course, does not resonate in 2024—and it’s for this reason Francis says that the original Miss Dior is not for sale today. “You don’t want to wear clothes from 1947, and it’s the same for perfume. No one wants to smell like their grandmother, but [in the same as fashion] you can keep the ideas, philosophy or structure and reshape it to make it more relevant.”

It's for this reason we have seen countless iterations of Miss Dior, with each version slotting seamlessly into the trends of the time but the spirit of the juice remaining—youthful, vibrant and undeniably enticing. Personally, the sweet, caramel laden Miss Dior of the noughties—Chérie‚—will forever hold a special place in my heart.

And while the 2021 Eau de Parfum is the sort of warming, floral, creamy concoction that proves so evocative of the fragrance era we have found ourselves in, both Dior and Francis recognise the importance of growing on and adding to what already exists—Miss Dior is in a constant cycle of reinvention. She does, after all, have to maintain her youth for eternity.

Introducing Miss Dior Parfum

“When I’m tasked with creating a new perfume, for me, it’s all about going back to the roots. I ask myself what history has to teach me,” reveals Francis. And so, in the initial creation stages of Miss Dior Parfum, Francis headed to the Dior archives in Paris. And what he found really became the crux of this new scent: a quote from Christian Dior himself about the inspiration for Miss Dior.

And this quote became Francis’ starting point for inspiration. “From the quote, I could smell the perfume. I tried to create the fragrance with the same jasmine that was used all those years ago—it was fruitier back then. So I pulled out that fruitiness and some strawberry, all to create that idea of sensuality and depth. I wanted it to have something sexy about it—something flesh-like and addictive,” he says. 

The difference between Miss Dior Parfum and Miss Dior Eau de Parfum

Before we get into this, it's important to sort of understand the general difference between a parfum and an eau de parfum. Essentially, a parfum contains a higher concentration of 'perfume oil' than an eau de parfum does—making a parfum typically stronger and more intense.

As I’ve already mentioned, fans of Miss Dior Eau de Parfum (I know there are heaps of you), needn’t worry—Miss Dior Parfum and Miss Dior Eau de Parfum are coexisting in the Miss Dior line-up. However, I expect a number of people are going to get things confused, so I want to ensure you're clued up.

I have previously written about how Miss Dior EDP is the perfume I recommend most to those who aren’t sure what they are looking for in a new fragrance. Everything about the juice aligns with what people in the UK want from fragrance right now. “Miss Dior Eau de Parfum works so well in the UK because it has a quirkiness and sensuality, with hints of vanilla [that make it] gourmand—but it’s not obvious,” explains Francis.

And both the Eau de Parfum and the Parfum possess that creamy, fruity concoction that is synonymous with Miss Dior—that essence of youth. But the two scents quickly head down entirely different paths. While the Eau de Parfum wafts over skin in puffy, dream-like clouds, the Parfum drenches you from head to toe in rich intensity to become all encompassing. It is punchier, deeper and darker, closing the door and blacking out any of the shimmering brightness you might associate with previous iterations.

While Miss Dior Eau de Parfum is the ultimate creamy, wedding-day scent, the Parfum is what exists if you peel back the layers of soft tulle that envelop the EDP, leaving you with the very core of its sensual existence. It has the fruitiness that makes Miss Dior the palatable and enjoyable crowdpleaser we all know and love it to be, but it has a steaminess to it that has the power to hypnotise anyone who smells it—and you can count me totally hypnotised.