Robert Pattinson on Dior Homme, Scent Preferences, and What’s Next

Robert Pattinson is not the same man he was in 2013, the year he was first announced as the face of Dior Homme fragrance. Back then, he was still largely known as the dude from Twilight (or maybe Harry Potter, depending on your particular fantasy-movie affinity). Now Edward Cullen is a distant memory. Pattinson has matured into a new father who also happens to be Batman, all without losing his signature self-deprecation, deadpan delivery, and taste for the unexpected. As he prepares for his highly anticipated latest project to hit screens—a sci-fi epic from Bong Joon-ho, the Oscar-winning director of Parasite —he’s also ushering in a new era of Dior Homme.

Dior Homme fragrance has been through almost as much evolution as Pattinson himself. First launched in 2005 under the guidance of then men’s creative director Hedi Slimane, it was reimagined as an eau de toilette in 2013 and now as a parfum in 2025. The new version is the brainchild of Dior perfume creative director Francis Kurkdjian and is sleek, sensual, and incredibly modern, thanks to Kurkdjian’s less-is-more philosophy. Iconic Dior Homme notes like iris, patchouli, amber, and vetiver are still there, but the excess has been stripped away to make the scent less woody, a little bit sweeter, and much sexier. The new Dior Homme Parfum twists tradition to become a monument to modernity, with a powdery, skin-like finish that feels like part of your natural scent—only way better.

Preserving the DNA of a house like Dior is always at top of mind for Kurkdjian, and in this case he looked to architecture as the inspiration, particularly glass buildings, which may seem odd given that glass has no scent. That wasn’t a problem for Pattinson, however, who claims to have “olfactory dyslexia,” a term and diagnosis he made up himself but basically means he has a hard time identifying scents. It could be more of the self-deprecating streak, but even if it’s not, he couldn’t ask for a better fragrance teacher than Kurkdjian, arguably one of the most famous perfumers working today. Neither man is easy to lock down, but we were able to get them together for a conversation about the evolution of the Dior Homme man, Kurkdjian’s history with the fragrance and vision for the future, and why this is the version Pattinson himself likes most.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Francis Kurkdjian on set for the Dior Homme Parfum campaign shoot in New York City.

Esquire: Had you two met before?

Robert Pattinson: We met for the first time in New York when we were doing the making-of, whatever it was that we were doing in a taxi in New York.

Francis Kurkdjian: Whatever we were doing.

RP: Even on the first meeting, he has a pretty unique ability to explain to a layman about the process of creating a fragrance. I thought it was fascinating when we were first talking about it, and he can teach in a very gentle way. Especially when I was supposed to essentially be interviewing him, and I’m like, “What is a smell?”

I’ve since realized, as well, that I think I might have olfactory dyslexia, where I think things smell like other things. No one else thinks they smell the same way I think they smell. Which makes it very, very difficult to talk to someone about scents.

I find talking to perfumers like Francis, who are so talented, intimidating because smell is a little bit subjective in a way.

RP: Definitely. Even when we are doing these interviews, I’ve said almost the wrong answer to everything. Also, he keeps saying, “It’s so sweet,” and I’m like, “It’s sweet?” It doesn’t even smell sweet to me.

What do you think it smells like?

RP: Francis was talking about it being like a glass building. That is something I can really smell in it. It’s strange. I can relate more to abstract things. It smells very singular. From before he even described it, I was like, “It feels like something,” a totemic kind of smell. Literally, I do not know how else to describe this. But when he said, “It’s like a glass building,” I’m like, “Yeah. That’s exactly the feeling I got from it.”

It doesn’t feel like it takes over the room. I guess my sense of a perfume which takes over the room is associated with overly floral, oppressive clouds of scent. With this, it’s very singular. It doesn’t feel like there’s too many notes going on, which I really liked about it.

You’ve been the face of Dior Homme for over ten years. What speaks to you about this new version versus the old one?

RP: Oh, God. I’d have to give a smell to the old one. There was a much stronger main ingredient in the last one, and then I’ve forgotten what the ingredient is. What’s the scent that everyone had in the ’70s, very associated with the hippies?

FK: Patchouli.

RP: Patchouli. It felt like there’s a lot more patchouli in the last one, but I could be totally wrong. Is that correct?

FK: It was woodier.

RP: Yes. It was woodier. This one’s less woody.

FK: For sure.

I’m wearing the new one right now, and I think it smells completely different.

FK: That was the point.

Robert Pattinson on set for the Dior Homme Parfum campaign shoot in New York City.

Francis, what was your inspiration? Robert mentioned the glass building. That’s really interesting.

FK: At the very beginning, it was hard for me to understand why Dior Homme [imagery] was in New York, because the name is French. We’re a French brand. But I lived in New York City, and in New York you have that balance between something very modern and yet classical. We shot in SoHo, because SoHo is where you see the classic part of New York. SoHo comes with all the images of artistry, of artists. There is something more relaxed. It’s not like Battery Park or the Financial District. It’s not like the uptight Upper East Side. To me SoHo has a perfect balance for Dior Homme.

While I was thinking about New York City, I went back to what Christian Dior wanted to do in his life, because he wanted to become an architect. When I look at the formula, it’s spatial. The scent moves in the air the same way you can think about a sculpture. If you think about a sculpture, you can think about a building, a monument. Little by little, I was able to make a parallel between building my Dior Homme, the shape of the bottle, the smell of Dior Homme I wanted to go towards, and to connect it with New York City.

How did that translate into this new evolution of Dior Homme?

FK: I am known for bold, strong, powerful, and yet very simple perfumes. I like when the message in the bottle is very simple to understand. I think I am like that because maybe it’s the way I am, but also I learned that when I was working in New York City 25 years ago. In the U.S., you have to go straight to the point. You have to get your pitch. You have to be able to deliver the message right away. People don’t have time, like in France, to wait. No, you have to go straight away.

That idea of square, to me, defines Dior Homme. Even though there is a difference between 2004, 2014, and 2024, it’s more or less the same guy. Now he knows himself. Before, you still had an uncertainty that brought that kind of sexiness. I wanted something like “I am your man. This is me.” There is no uncertainty. To keep with the glass thing, it’s like a glass of whiskey. It’s like the thing you put on the table. “This is me. This is how I am. Take it or leave it.”

Like what Robert mentioned before, previous iterations felt more traditional, in a way. This feels super modern. Why did you choose iris for the background of this fragrance?

FK: I didn’t choose it. That was the guy who created it 20 years ago who chose iris. It was Hedi. I was working on the perfume at the time in 2004, but I lost the competition. Hedi Slimane wanted the original perfume with iris because his ideal of masculinity was based on iris and the fact that it is a bit feminine yet masculine. To me, iris is shy as a smell. If I had to compare it to rose, which is very romantic and soft, or jasmine, which is very loud, iris is a bit soft-spoken. To me, it is very Hedi Slimane. Very chic, elegant like that.

For the new version, I wanted something fun. When I go to Kim Jones’s shows, there is something very elegant and chic, tailored, and yet it’s fun. Yes, it’s colorful, and yes, it’s joyful, but you also have the line and the tailoring. Perfume is about that as well. At Dior, the idea of shape is very, very important because it comes back to the roots of the Maison, with the Bar suit, the New Look, and so on, and because also Dior wanted to be an architect. In New York City, you can find that idea of architecture and line for the perfume. Making it modern means that I had to bring that fun, something contemporary.

Dior Dior Homme Parfum

Robert, were you surprised when you first smelled this fragrance?

RP: When we were doing the ad, I was wearing it a lot, but that was the first time I wore it. I’m just always really surprised when something can coalesce with your own scent so easily. It’s very, very quick to feel organic on you.

FK: I love when you put perfume on and you give that feeling that the smell comes from your own skin and your own sweat. It’s like a piece of clothing. Sometimes you wear something, you feel that you put something on and it’s not you, you feel like you are wearing a costume. Then sometimes you wear something and you don’t feel it, because you are one with it. Perfume, to me, works exactly the same. Sometimes you put a perfume on and all day long you feel that you’re sitting next to someone because you don’t blend, because you don’t match. I love when I am able to create a perfume where it’s you. It’s your skin. It’s like you smell someone’s neck, like you smell your body sweat. I love that. I love that type of sensuality.

RP: There’s something kind of athletic about it. I don’t know if athletic is the right word, but sometimes when you have something too woody, it feels much more about just sitting and being static. This felt much more active immediately, which I really liked about it.

FK: I don’t like perfumes when they’re too perfume-y or fake.

I find this to be a very sensual perfume, in a way. Like you said, it really works well with your skin. There is a little bit of sweetness.

FK: The sweetness brings the modernity.

RP: The shoot, the stills especially, felt very, very different from the first one. The first time I did a shoot for the one in 2014, all the imagery was a lot harder. This time, I was quite surprised because it was so different. They’re all a bit oilier. I’m more tan in it. I was very white in the last one.

FK: Last week I called them smoky, a bit.

How does that speak to the evolution of the Dior Homme man?

FK: Men have changed because society has changed. Masculinity has changed so much. My perception is that the younger generation of men acknowledge their feminine side more easily, easier than I did. I’m 54, so I am the previous generation. Nowadays, when I walk in the street, you sometimes can’t tell for sure if it’s a man or a woman, because of just the way people are, what they wear, how they act, and their body language. That is interesting. You feel it in perfumes, as well.

RP: Sometimes, when I look at, I don’t know, actors who are going to premieres and people who can now take massive risks in what they’re wearing, I find it quite unfair because I didn’t grow up in that environment. Now to make that first step, it suddenly looks like you’re faking it and you’re just biting on the younger generation’s stuff and you just look like kind of a loser. But my desire to be more experimental is so strong, and I find it deeply unfair. I remember the last time I was doing a press tour, I was in the fitting room and I’d put on all the cool stuff and would be like, “This is great,” but then I realized, maybe if you’re 22, that’ll be fine, but being 38, I might’ve missed the boat a little bit.

Now you have your Dior Homme to fill that void for you.

RP: Yeah. I can experiment with scent. It’s a lot safer.