Kerzon: A Fragrance House for Every Part of Daily Life

“Scents are among our earliest memories. When we decided to start a family project, fragrance seemed ideal because it is rooted in childhood and emotion.”

— Pierre-Alexis Delaplace, co-founder of Kerzon​

Basic Information

Founded: 2014

Founders: Etienne Delaplace and Pierre-Alexis Delaplace​

Official website: https://www.kerzon.paris

The Founders and the Brand’s Origins

A Story of Five Brothers

Kerzon’s story begins with two of five brothers who grew up in Paris. Etienne and Pierre-Alexis Delaplace had followed very different career paths.​

Pierre-Alexis studied design at the prestigious École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, then worked as a freelance graphic designer and art director for a wide range of lifestyle, food, and fashion brands. Etienne, meanwhile, began by qualifying as an accountant, studied management and information-systems consulting at business school, and later built a career in commerce. “We were both heading in very different directions,” Etienne recalled in an interview.

Before starting Kerzon, Etienne had also established and sold a business with another brother. His entrepreneurial ambition remained undiminished, eventually leading to a conversation in 2013.​

Kerzon, the Summer House

As children, the brothers spent their summer holidays at the same house. In Brittany, France, there is a tradition of naming holiday homes along the Atlantic and Channel coasts “Ker” something. Ker means the home or place belonging to someone in Breton. Just as houses called KerMargaret and KerJannic line the coast, their family’s summer home was called Kerzon.

“Kerzon was born from the memory of a house where we spent many summers as children. Its scent was so special and unique that we had always wanted to give it a tangible form one day.”

— Etienne Delaplace, BaronMag interview (2016)​

That house was also closely connected to memories of their grandmother’s scented sachets. Her handmade lavender bags were tucked into wardrobes throughout the home. “All of Kerzon’s inspiration began with those sachets our grandmother made,” the brothers have said. The wish to bring those remembered scents “to today’s generation, just as we once experienced them ourselves” became the brand’s starting point.​

The Brand Is Born: Paris, Late 2013

In late 2013, Etienne and Pierre-Alexis began developing the project in earnest. They felt that “fragrance carries emotion and pleasure, and it is also a field in which Pierre-Alexis’s skills in prints and visuals can shine.” The first product they envisioned was a pochette parfumée, a perfumed sachet that could be seen as a modern version of their grandmother’s lavender bags.

Looking beyond a one-note lavender scent toward something more poetic, lively, and contemporary, the brothers decided to approach fragrance makers in Grasse, the center of the perfume industry in southern France. Charabot, a house with two hundred years of history, responded to their call for proposals. One of Grasse’s oldest perfume houses, it holds the French government’s Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant designation, recognizing a Living Heritage Company.

The brief the two brothers gave Charabot was simple:

“It must be poetic, upbeat and smell good”

— Pierre-Alexis Delaplace​

Setting Out at Maison&Objet

In January 2014, Kerzon exhibited for the first time at Maison&Objet, the international interiors and design trade fair in Paris. Those five days became the brand’s baptism.​

“It was our baptism. Suddenly, our world opened up, and over five days thousands of people touched our products, smelled them, and placed orders. We have continued exhibiting twice a year ever since.”

— Pierre-Alexis Delaplace​

The fair also introduced them to like-minded lifestyle brands such as Papier Tigre, Maison Plisson, and Mathilde Cabanas. Through collaborations, shared travels, and the experience of building their brands together, the Kerzon family began to grow.​

In 2017, the house opened its flagship store at 68 rue de Turenne in Paris’s Marais district. With a three-pronged distribution strategy encompassing online sales, wholesale, and its own store, its products now reach seventeen countries across five continents.​

The Brand’s Commitments

A Philosophy of Fragrance

Kerzon aims to create fragrances that are “as authentic as memories.” Its starting point is the idea that every part of daily life has a scent: a walk in the woods, tending a garden, a coffee break, passing a bakery, the banks of the Seine, a bouquet of mimosa, or a toast shared with friends.

“Our daily lives are full of evocative scents. They are our greatest source of inspiration. We strive to create authentic fragrances that feel as real as memories.”

— Kerzon, official website​

Rather than restricting fragrance to the body or the home, Kerzon follows a philosophy of bringing scent into every part of life. Laundry soap, dishwashing liquid, body wash, room mist, candles, hand cream, and lip balm all belong to the same fragrant world. The brand’s fundamental message is that “once you find a scent you love, you can freely bring it into every part of your life.”​

“We see ourselves as perfumers. Some customers fall in love with a particular scent and want to collect the entire range, from body wash and laundry soap to mist.”

— Etienne Delaplace, in Culture V. magazine​

Ingredients and Production

All products are made in France, in Provence and the Paris region. Most fragrances are composed at a Grasse house certified as a Living Heritage Company. The soaps are made in Provence at low temperatures using coconut and olive oils.

The ingredients are of natural origin and comply with organic-cosmetics standards. Mineral oils, sulfates, and endocrine disruptors are entirely excluded. All products are vegan, with the sole exception of the lip balm, which contains beeswax.

Packaging and Visual Identity

Pierre-Alexis oversees the visuals. Drawing on the design sensibility he developed at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, the bright, graphic labels have become Kerzon’s signature. The paper and cardboard packaging comes from sustainably managed forests and carries the Imprim’Vert low-environmental-impact printing certification. Bottles are made either from plastic produced entirely from recycled household waste or from recyclable glass.

The brand also takes the environmental impact of glass bottles seriously. Based on its assessment that “the carbon footprint of glass across production, transport, and recycling is three times that of recycled plastic,” it chooses recycled-plastic bottles wherever the product permits.​

Social Commitments

The pochette parfumée, Kerzon’s iconic first product, is hand-filled at an ESAT in Paris’s thirteenth arrondissement, a facility that supports employment for adults with disabilities. The brand values this partnership with a local social-inclusion organization as another part of the Kerzon family.​

The Kerzon Pact

The Kerzon Pact, which underpins all the brand’s activities, comprises eleven production commitments. One is the refill service called La Boucle, meaning the loop. Introduced in 2017, it allows customers to bring empty bottles to the Paris store and have them refilled. It is one example of the brand’s efforts to minimize waste and make sustainable consumption part of everyday life.

The Fragrance Range

Kerzon’s fragrances are organized into several main collections. A distinguishing feature is that they extend beyond personal fragrance: the same scent appears in formats including candles, room mists, laundry soap, and body wash.

Flâneries Collection: Strolls through Paris

Flâneries is French for leisurely wandering. This signature Kerzon collection portrays Parisian landmarks through scent, chiefly in home fragrances and candles.​

• Place des Vosges: Named for Paris’s oldest planned square, built in the seventeenth century. Bulgarian rose forms the heart, with the fruity brightness of geranium and blackcurrant. It is one of Kerzon’s most popular scents.
• Jardin du Luxembourg: Named after the Luxembourg Gardens, with the scent of lilac and honey.​
• The collection captures many Parisian scenes, including La Tour Eiffel, Fleur d’Oranger, or orange blossom, and Fleur de Romarin, or rosemary blossom.​

Herbier Collection: A Herbarium

A botanical series that depicts the plant world in fine detail, inspired by everyday moments spent gathering in a garden and around a table.​

• Feuilles de Figuier, or fig leaves: Opens with fennel and eucalyptus before moving into the milky sweetness of fig. Virginia cedar and myrrh form the base.​
• Feuilles d’Eucalyptus, or eucalyptus leaves: Mentholated eucalyptus followed by lavender, rosemary, and thyme.​

Eau Marine Collection

An inventive marine collection incorporating seawater, in the form of sea salt or Maris Sal, and Laminaria digitata seaweed extract into its formulas. The fragrance names combine Ker, meaning home, with an ingredient or image.

• Kerose: Top notes of Calabrian bergamot and petitgrain, a heart of Bulgarian rose alcoholate and absolute, and a base of Haitian vetiver and cedar.​
• Kermosa: Bitter orange, lemon, and mandarin leaf lead into a heart of Egyptian geranium and mimosa, with sandalwood and heliotrope in the base.​
• Others include Keriver, Kerelem, and Kermusk.​

Trésors de la Nature Collection: Nature’s Treasures

Eaux de parfum inspired by the many expressions of the plant world: delicate petals, richly textured bark, sun-warmed fruit, and aromatic herbs.​

• Rhubarb & Mimosa
• Rosemary & Cedarwood
• Neroli & Orange Blossom
• And Place des Vosges, a fruity floral, among others.​

Everyday Care Products

The range extends across everyday care products centered on fragrance, including laundry soaps such as Super Frais, Maille Câline, and Gym Tonique, as well as dishwashing liquids, body washes, candles, room mists, hand creams, and lip balms. The laundry soaps, in particular, are formulated so that their fragrance lingers on linens after washing, embodying the idea of natural products with appealing scents and a pleasurable feel in use.

By the Way…

• The Man Called Péa: Pierre-Alexis goes by the nickname Péa. In an interview, he joked that his parents had named him Pierre-Alexis to make his life difficult.​
• The Brand’s Mascot: A dog called Alf appears on Kerzon’s Pact page, announcing the prohibition of animal testing with a “Woof!” The official website also features a line introducing the Pact page through Pierre-Alexis’s dog, Alf. In his 2016 BaronMag interview, Pierre-Alexis said that walking Alf, then a fifteen-month-old flat-coated retriever, was when he could think most creatively. Alf has therefore been a companion to Kerzon since its early days.
• “Family Dinners Always Become Briefings”: Etienne says that “at Kerzon, family meals very often turn into briefings for new collections.” True to its description as a family project, the brand offers a glimpse of work and life naturally intersecting.​