PARIS — L’Artisan Parfumeur is celebrating its 50th birthday this year with numerous festivities, and on a global scale.
When Puig acquired the brand 11 years ago, it was like a sleeping beauty, according to Thomas James, president of niche and wellness brands at the company.
“We discovered an incredible story,” he said. James and his team delved back into L’Artisan Parfumeur’s archives before relaunching it. “The founder, Jean Laporte, was really a trailblazer in the fragrance industry, because without knowing it, he pretty much created the niche category.”
It all began with Laporte’s passion for nature. In 1976, he created the Mûre et Musc fragrance with blackberry notes. “Now, we are very familiar with fruity notes, but in ’76 it was really something innovative,” James said.
Mûre et Musc remains among L’Artisan Parfumeur’s bestselling products, especially in its home market of France. Also in 1976, Laporte opened a Paris boutique, totally dedicated to fragrance, a pioneering strategy for its time.
James believes the brand’s uniqueness is spelled out in its name. “You have ‘l’artisan’ — craftsmanship is at the heart of the brand,” he said.
“Parfumeur” celebrates the métier of perfumers, whose names appear on the fragrance boxes. They are given carte blanche in creating for L’Artisan Parfumeur. “There is no brief,” James said. “We want to maintain the pioneering spirit of Jean Laporte.”
Other trailblazing scents included Premier Figuier, from 1994, which is reputed to contain the first fig accord. Bois Farine launched in 2003. “It was a UFO in the fragrance landscape,” James said, “because it was full of pyrazine.
“L’Artisan Parfumeur has been able to create big trends on the markets,” he asserted.
Abyssae, from 2022, is the brand’s bestseller today in every region. For it, Dsm-Firmenich perfumer Daphné Bugey reinterpreted a rose note with a touch of eucalyptus, creating a new aromatic.
Abyssae from L’Artisan Parfumeur.
The strategy is to take Laporte’s original vision and extrude from that what is contemporary and chimes with today’s younger generations.
At retail, the aim is to achieve a “lieu de vie,” or a homey place, where people can enjoy perfumes and a whole universe of fragranced objects. Those began with the Boule d’Ambre, a terracotta ball filled with amber crystals, from the ’70s and that was relaunched two years ago.
“It became not only our bestseller. We were out of stock everywhere,” James said. “People were queuing in Taiwan. It’s something very authentic. It’s a different approach to fragrance.”
L’Artisan Parfumeur, which has 45 perfumes, also carries candles and bath and body products.
“We wanted to have a Parisian interior infused with the spirit of the ’70s,” James said. The first example of this opened in China, in Beijing’s SKP and then with a boutique in the city’s Sanlitun district.
“Now, we see a very great traction around L’Artisan Parfumeur,” he said
L’Artisan Parfumeur booms in China, its number-one market, followed by France and the Middle East.
“We are doubling down the market growth of the region,” James said. “China is really a core priority for the brand.”
Inside L’Artisan Parfumeur in China.
Courtesy of Puig
The brand has been successful in Taiwan, after entering there in 2024, James said.
L’Artisan Parfumeur relaunched in Japan in 2025, with a boutique on Tokyo’s Omotesando shopping street, to “amazing results,” according to James. That was followed by pop-ups in Isetan and Wako.
In France, L’Artisan Parfumeur’s flagship, on Rue Saint-Honoré since 2020, is being renewed and slated to reopen in November. The first floor up will be dedicated to brand archives. There also will be a gallery with a rotating lineup of artists.
He would not discuss brand sales, but industry sources estimate they are about 70 million euros annually.
This year will be chockablock with events to fete the company’s big birthday. “We have a whole plan, what we call ‘50 years of creative freedom,’” James said. This includes immersive exhibitions in major cities.
The start, in May, will be in Shanghai, and will pay tribute to L’Artisan Parfumeur’s first Paris boutique. Craftsmanship will take center stage. Potpourri — a product Laporte made in his first store — is celebrated with Le Florilège, a limited-edition product worked on with local artists. The brand’s archives also will be on display.
“We will take you backstage at L’Artisan Parfumeur,” James said.
Next stop will be Paris in June, with an homage to Laporte. “It’s a very nice dialogue between the modern brand and its history,” James said.
June 15 will mark the introduction in main markets of 100 numbered, hand-blown re-editions of the Mûre et Musc Extrême bottle, shaped like a blackberry. The same artisan who created the scent’s initial outer boxes got involved in the project.
In Dubai, during the city’s design week running from Nov. 3 to 8, the focus will be on craftsmanship. Present there will be XL limited editions of La Boule created with local artists.
The Boule d’Ambre from L’Artisan Parfumeur.
Courtesy of Puig
“If your name is L’Artisan Parfumeur, your duty is to secure the transmission of this craftsmanship,” James said. “So we will create a Grand Prix du Parfum.”
For this prize, the brand partnered with French perfumery schools ISIPCA and L’École Supérieure du Parfum. Students will submit fragrances to L’Artisan Parfumeur, which then is to edit and launch one of them.
“It’s giving a chance to shine to the new generation of perfumers,” James said. “And to foster excitement for the new generation.”
The winner will be revealed to the schools in September and the prize granted on June 27.
Other celebratory activities include a presence at the Salone del Mobile, running from April 20 to 26 in MIlan. L’Artisan Parfumeur is taking over an apartment, where Antoine Billore will present his first collection of “hybrid furniture,” made of interlocking upcycled pieces.
New fragrance products will help celebrate the big birthday, too. L’Amant perfume just came out. Dsm-Firmenich perfumer Nathalie Lorson considered the perfume like a love letter, so included an olfactive note of ink.
One-hundred-and-fifty limited-edition Boule d’Ambre EID Gold Masterpiece will be sold starting this month for 1,500 euros each.
An extract of Abyssae, which explores new floral facets alongside the scent’s signature eucalyptus note, will launch Sept. 1. And altogether there are to be about 100 handmade Mûre et Musc bottles, which originally were crafted by Pierre Dinand.
Müre et Musc by L’Artisan Parfumeur.
Courtesy of Puig
“He gave us all the technical drawings he did back then, in the ’80s,” James said.
Then, at the end of the year, L’Artisan Parfumeur will extend its home collection with new objects, such as incense and its holder, Boule holders and limited-edition Boule Christmas decorations.
