Maison Crivelli: Parisian Haute Parfumerie That Captures Surprise in Scent

“Beauty lies in the unexpected. It is not about where you are, but how you live and cherish that moment. What matters is seeking out beautiful surprises.”

— Thibaud Crivelli

Essential Information
The Founder and the Origins of the Brand
What Matters to the Brand
The Fragrance Lineup
By the Way…

Essential Information

Founded: 2018
Founder: Thibaud Crivelli
Headquarters: 280, rue Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris, in the city’s 1st arrondissement, France
Official website: maisoncrivelli.com

The Founder and the Origins of the Brand

Born in France, Nurtured by Nature

Thibaud Crivelli grew up in the small French town of La Roche-Posay. His father was a pharmacist and an entrepreneur who launched his own cosmetics line. This environment was the starting point for Thibaud’s engagement with natural ingredients.

In spring, his childhood garden was reportedly filled with roses, honeysuckle, geraniums, artemisia, peonies and wisteria, with bees flying among the large trees. In summer the family moved to the French Riviera, surrounded by the aromas of lavender, thyme, rosemary, pine and citrus; in autumn and winter, he rode horses through colourful, mist-shrouded forests. Scent accumulated as a sense inseparably linked to memory.

“I was born and raised in France, in a French family with Italian roots. The three generations before me lived in various countries abroad, including Australia, Morocco, Lebanon and Vietnam. Perfume has always been part of my life. From childhood, I said that creating a perfume brand one day would be my lifelong project.”

— Thibaud Crivelli

150 Years or More of an Adventurous Family History

The Crivelli family is said to have moved from Italy to France during the Renaissance. The following three generations lived across five continents, beginning in an era when travel was far less common. His maternal grandmother grew up in Vietnam, his grandfather in Lebanon, and his mother was born in Morocco, while his paternal family ventured to Australia and the Indian Ocean region. This “adventurous lineage” forms the foundation of Thibaud’s own curiosity and desire to explore. The intense curiosity shared by his family is also reflected in his brand’s character.

To Asia at Twenty-Two: Ten Years of Exploration

At twenty-two, Thibaud made the decision to go to Asia. After moving to China in 2006, he spent a total of ten years in various Asian countries, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. During this time he worked in marketing for a leading company in the luxury beauty industry. The brand has not been disclosed, but a Fragrantica article describes it as “one of the top three brands in the perfume industry,” suggesting that he gained a deep understanding of raw-material sourcing and relationships with producing regions there.

His years in Asia refined an approach to scent grounded not in technical knowledge but in sensory knowledge. Patchouli farms in Indonesia, plantations in Sri Lanka, tea fields in China: the essence of his exploration was meeting fragrance ingredients at each place through a “moment of surprise.”

“The way I made discoveries was never technical; it was always a sensory approach. I approached scent by connecting it with colours, textures and the people I met.”

— Thibaud Crivelli

From a Major Company to Independence and the Birth of the Brand

After a decade of experience in Asia and a career in the luxury industry, Thibaud finally decided to establish his own brand. The time had come to give shape to his childhood dream of “creating a perfume brand someday.”

Maison Crivelli was formally launched in Paris in 2018, although the company’s registration dates back to September 2017. Its base was established at 280 Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris’s 1st arrondissement. The first perfume Thibaud sold to a customer was Santal Volcanique; he reportedly made the sale himself while working on the shop floor in October 2018.

“I remember clearly the moment my first customer bought Santal Volcanique. I was introducing the collection and selling it in the shop myself. Seeing his reaction was very encouraging.”

— Thibaud Crivelli

The brand’s greatest challenge was how to establish a presence in a crowded niche-perfume market. Thibaud’s answer was clear: create “perfumes that tell not where you travelled, but how you lived that moment.” This approach is at the heart of Maison Crivelli.

What Matters to the Brand

The Philosophy of “Slow Perfume”

Maison Crivelli’s motto is “Slow Perfume.” Taking time to uncover memories, find the best perfumer, create a scent and source ingredients carefully: an unhurried approach runs through this entire process. There is no fixed deadline for creating a fragrance and no compromise until the result is satisfying. Development can take several months or as long as two years.

For each creation, Thibaud begins with a moment when he himself experienced a “surprising encounter with an ingredient.” It might be discovering iris at the edge of an oasis, smelling scorched sandalwood on the slopes of an active volcano, or walking through a rose field beside the sea. The house’s distinctive method is to present this experience to the perfumer as a multisensory mood board combining photographs, sounds, moving images and textures, and commission a fragrance from it.

“When creating a new fragrance, I prepare a mood board bringing together its imagery and share it with the perfumer. I communicate the experiences and memories inside me not only through photographs, but also through music and other elements. We then shape it through repeated discussions. The creative process is very much like making a work of art.”

— Thibaud Crivelli

The two key words at the heart of the brand are “surprise” and “contrast.” Thibaud also adds “authenticity,” “adventure” and “synaesthesia,” shaping the brand’s distinctive character.

Collaborating with Perfumers

For each creation, Maison Crivelli partners with a perfumer suited to its concept. This is a deliberate choice intended to bring diversity to the collection as a whole and give each fragrance a completely different personality.

The eau de parfum collection involves perfumers including Nathalie Feisthauer, Dorothée Piot, Bertrand Duchaufour, Stéphanie Bakouche, Richard Ibanez and Leslie Girard. The extrait de parfum collection has been developed mainly through collaboration with Quentin Bisch.

“The most interesting creations have come when there was a genuine connection with the perfumer. Without trust, I cannot feel that a creation began with a blank page. That is absolutely unacceptable to me.”

— Thibaud Crivelli

Attention to Bottles and Packaging

The bottles use glass produced in France and Spain, while the caps are made from an unpolished zinc alloy called zamac. Each cap is stamped by hand with the Maison Crivelli monogram, making every finish subtly different. This, too, is a way of embodying the philosophy of the unexpected.

The outer packaging is a handmade white box made from fine Italian paper, with a terracotta-coloured panel hidden inside. The appearance of this warm colour when the box is opened reflects the brand’s desire to weave surprise into every detail of the experience. No plastic interior packaging is used, and renewable materials are also used for the wood components. The formulas contain no artificial dyes or phthalates, use no animal-derived ingredients and are not tested on animals.

Sustainability Initiatives

Visiting patchouli and vetiver plantations in Indonesia made Thibaud aware of the importance of sustainable ingredient production. This led to a partnership with the French nonprofit Cœur de Forêt, meaning “Heart of the Forest.” The initiative has been described as financing the production of one sustainably grown patchouli cutting for every three fragrances purchased. Its aims include avoiding chemical fertilizers, preventing soil erosion and maintaining traditional farming methods.

The Fragrance Lineup

Maison Crivelli’s offering is centred mainly on the Eau de Parfum Collection and the Extrait de Parfum Collection. All are designed as unisex, or gender-free, fragrances, and the brand has been described as being available in around forty countries.

The Eau de Parfum Collection

Each name combines the name of an ingredient with a coined term conveying the image of the place where that ingredient was discovered.

Santal Volcanique: One of the 2018 launch fragrances and still among the bestsellers. It began with the experience of smelling scorched sandalwood on the slopes of an active volcano. A spicy, warm composition of cardamom, ginger, coffee and sandalwood, composed by Richard Ibanez.
Rose Saltifolia: A salty rose perfume born from the memory of walking through a rose field beside the sea. Composed by Stéphanie Bakouche. Thibaud often names it as one of his personal favourites within the brand.
Absinthe Boréale: Captures the experience of drinking absinthe, a strong herbal spirit, while watching the northern lights in the Arctic. Composed by Nathalie Feisthauer, its cool composition combines juniper berries, lavender, eucalyptus, mint, lemon, artemisia and musk.
Fleur Diamantine: A floral creation by Bertrand Duchaufour, featuring jasmine, orange blossom, mint, oakmoss and saffron.
Citrus Batikanga: Inspired by drinking a citrus cocktail in a colourful tropical market. Bertrand Duchaufour’s contrast between sharp citrus and chilli leaves a striking impression.
Iris Malikhan: A dry, warm iris based on the memory of encountering irises beside a desert oasis. Its addictive warmth, combining vanilla and leather, has made it one of the bestsellers.
Lys Sølaberg: A smoky, ambery lily inspired by lilies discovered high above a fjord.
Osmanthe Kōdoshān: Inspired by discovering osmanthus flowers on a mysterious, mist-covered mountainside.
Papyrus Moléculaire: Inspired by an encounter with powdered papyrus roots amid tattooed women smoking cigarillos. Composed by Leslie Girard.
Bois Datchaï: A spicy, woody, berry fragrance evoking an autumn forest.

The Extrait de Parfum Collection

The more highly concentrated extrait series began in 2021 and has been created mainly in collaboration with Quentin Bisch.

Hibiscus Mahajád: Inspired by the memory of tasting hibiscus tea in a gemstone market. Composed by Quentin Bisch, this floral-oriental combines rose, hibiscus, mint, vanilla and leather. A hit that became a turning point for the brand.
Patchouli MagnetiK: Inspired by riding a motorcycle through a patchouli plantation during a tropical storm. Composed by Quentin Bisch, with vivid contrasts between white peach, gardenia, patchouli, sandalwood, benzoin and vanilla.
Ambre Chromatique: The third extrait, distinguished by its reddish lacquered flacon, or perfume bottle.
Oud Maracujá: Its bold contrast of passion fruit and oud, or agarwood, attracted attention and won Fragrantica’s Best Niche Fragrance Award for 2024. It uses natural materials from Givaudan’s ORPUR collection. Composed by Jordi Fernandez.
Tubéreuse Astrale: An extrait combining the memory of a night spent looking at the Milky Way with his father and the scent of tuberose that drifted through the air. Composed by Quentin Bisch, with a high concentration of 32%.
Oud Stallion: Attracted attention as a Harrods exclusive in London.
Safran Secret and Cuir Infrarouge have also joined the range, and a set offering six extrait fragrances in 5 ml sizes has been available.

A New Direction: “Olfactory Mysteries”

The new series represented by Safran Secret deliberately withholds details of the fragrance composition. It is an attempt to return to the fundamental question of “what you feel, rather than what is in it,” taking the brand’s creativity a step further.

By the Way…

Magic blotters: Maison Crivelli has special scent-testing strips on which a magnified photograph of an ingredient appears when perfume is sprayed. Using screen-printing technology, they symbolize the brand’s approach of “showing scent at a microscopic level.”

Exploration lamps: At selected stores in France and Japan, visitors can experience the perfumes through an original tool known as an “exploration lamp.”

Studying eight foreign languages: Thibaud enjoys language learning and says he has studied eight foreign languages. His passion for travel and languages closely reflects the global outlook of his brand.

The debut in Japan: The brand arrived in Japan in 2022 at Salon de Parfum 2022, held at Isetan Shinjuku. The response was reportedly strong enough for some products to sell out, and its Japanese following has continued to grow steadily.

Plans for a Rue Saint-Honoré boutique: Reports in 2025 described plans for Maison Crivelli to open a new boutique at 314 Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris’s 1st arrondissement, a street that could be called a destination for fragrance. The plan would bring the brand together on the street with houses such as Creed and Acqua di Parma, raising expectations of further growth.

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