Paris debuts perfume inspired by iconic Central Asian love story
The global fragrance market has recently welcomed a new addition — Kiz Jibek, a perfume launched under the Tolegen Paris brand by an ethnic Kazakh entrepreneur living in France.
A French Kazakh born in China
Nurjan Tolegen, the founder of Tolegen Paris, is an ethnic Kazakh born in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in China. He spent his early years in the city of Kulja before relocating to Paris, where he now lives and works.
Nurjan describes himself as the grandson of nomadic people. His grandparents left their homeland «during the time of civil war,» carrying with them the spirit of Kazakhstan, preserved in their stories, songs and memories.
The young man first set foot on the Kazakh steppes in 2021, during the global lockdown, where he spent a month immersing himself in his ancestral homeland.
«Those four weeks in Kazakhstan felt like a rebirth. I wandered through snow-capped mountains beneath a summer sun, rode horseback across the boundless steppes, and felt the wind carry the scent of cedars and wormwood in an embrace of uncanny familiarity,» Nurjan said, recollecting his first trip to the homeland.
Tolegen and Kiz Jibek
Deeply moved by his visit to Kazakhstan, the entrepreneur decided to launch a new business.
«Upon my return to France, inspired by this personal odyssey, I decided to create Tolegen, a haute parfumerie house. This name, which is my own, also belongs to a valiant warrior from a great Kazakh epic.»
In May 2025, Nurjan launched a perfume called Kiz Jibek on the Paris market. He described it as a fragrance that «pays tribute to women’s inner strength and emancipation, seamlessly blending tradition with modernity.» The new scent invites wearers on a journey through steppes scented with wormwood, the crisp air of the mountains, and the rich traditions and emotions that have shaped its creator.
Kiz Jibek by Tolegen Paris draws inspiration from the 16th-century Kazakh epic «Kyz Zhibek,» which tells the story of the tragic love between the brave warrior Tolegen and the beautiful maiden Zhibek, whose name means «silk» in Kazakh, born to rival tribes. Adapted into an opera in 1934 and a film in the 1970s, the lyrical legend is a celebration of love and freedom.
