In 1999, he passed his position of head perfumer of Jean Patou to Jean-Michel Duriez and became the director of the Osmothèque, which he co-founded.
[4] In this position, he supervised, researched, and extended the collection of this fragrance archive to encompass and reconstruct more ancient and lost perfumes.
[1][5] In 2008, he handed the position of president and director to Patricia de Nicolaï, the great-granddaughter of Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain.
[6] In 1984, Jean Kerléo was responsible for the recreation of 12 iconic Patou fragrances of the early decades: Amour-Amour, Que sais-je, Adieu Sagesse, Chaldée, Moment Suprême, Cocktail, Divine Folie, Normandie, Vacances, Colony, L'Heure Attendue, Câline.
Very much in the spirit of his later work at the Osmothèque, he restricted himself to those fragrances he could confidently reassemble based on existing formulas and available ingredients, avoiding guesswork where such reference material was not available.