Before Frederic Malle began putting the perfumer’s name on his bottles 16 years ago, perfumers were mostly unknown and uncredited outside of their industry. Acknowledging the perfumer would have risked shattering the illusion that Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors sat around blending their perfumes themselves. As a result, it can be very tricky to find information about perfumers, particularly older perfumers from more secretive generations. But I have never found so little information as I did on Akiko Kamei. One photo, a list of creations, and an unverified claim that Ms. Kamei once worked at Givaudan. No interviews, no quotes, nothing!
So this is really less of a post and more of a cry for help. Does anyone know anything about the woman who created Rouge d’Hermes, Caron No. 3, Diptyque Oyedo*, and L’Artisan Mure et Musc eau de cologne**? I hate seeing such an accomplished perfumer come so close to being forgotten. I’ll update this post with anything we can find! Let’s solve this fragrant mystery.
* Source: http://olfatheque.com/fiche-personne-194-Akiko-Kamei.html
** Source: http://boisdejasmin.com/2006/02/mure_et_musc_an.html
SCENTS OF SELF 
The Hermes website credits her with the creation of the original Parfum d’Hermes, which was later updated to Rouge d’Hermes.
Oops, didn’t mean to imply she didn’t do the update, Rouge d’Hermes, — she did.
Hmmm, I wonder if Jean-Claude Ellena knows anything about his Hermes predecessor! Anyone got his number? 😉
I don’t know anything about her, but she looks like such a whimsical yet wise woman!
I befriended her when she was living in NYC in the early ’90s and working at Roche in Nutley, NJ. She moved back to Paris and I visited her there in ’95 I think. We kept in touch many years and after I married and had a child we lost touch. Funny thing is I just came across her address in Paris and wondered if she ever got on the internet. Googled her name and found this photo and your “cry for help”. Akiko is one of the most lovely and talented people I’ve ever met and I regret losing touch with her. Let me know if you found any more info.