LES INDEMODABLES: A Timeless Fragrance Philosophy Born at the Foot of the Alps

“Choosing a fragrance is like assembling an ideal wardrobe. You begin with classics made from the finest materials and collect pieces that are not subject to the passing of time or trends. That is exactly what perfume lovers are looking for, too.”

— Valérie Pulvérail, founder of Les Indémodables

Key Facts
The Founders and the Origins of the House
The House’s Commitments
The Perfume Collection
By the Way…

Key Facts

Founded: 2016

Founders: Valérie Pulvérail & Rémi Pulvérail

Official website: https://www.lesindemodables-parfums.com/

Based in: Annecy, France

The Founders and the Origins of the House

Two Journeys: Twenty Years Both Behind the Scenes and on the Front Line of Fragrance

Les Indémodables was born where the experiences of a married couple, who had followed different paths through the fragrance world, intersected.

Valérie Pulvérail began her career on the front line of sales. She later expanded into teaching at a beauty school, and into the marketing and operational management of a specialist perfume boutique, accumulating at least 20 years of experience in the perfume industry. Familiar with both its “backstage” and its “front of house,” she has always remained closely engaged with customers.

Her husband, Rémi Pulvérail, worked at Charabot, the long-established Grasse-based raw-material supplier, before moving to Givaudan, the world’s largest fragrance and cosmetic-ingredient company, where he spent at least 12 years working in raw-material sourcing. Traveling to growing regions worldwide and dealing directly with producers of perfumery ingredients laid the foundations for his later independence and his approach to fragrance.

A Turning Point: Opening a “Beauty Bistro” in Annecy

In January 2012, seeking to establish her own business, Valérie opened Le Bistro de la Beauté, the “Beauty Bistro,” in Annecy, a town in the French Alps. It was an elegant, approachable boutique organized around three pillars: fine fragrance, skincare, and makeup. Its fundamental guiding principles were “expertise, counseling, and education.”

While running the Bistro, Valérie began to notice something. As customers became more knowledgeable and discerning about fragrance, they consistently sought “long-lasting, rare, high-quality scents.”

“Les Indémodables was born after repeated requests from customers.”

— From a 2017 introduction to the brand by GreekGoddess.London

In response to those customers, she decided to take a “leap of faith” and create her own perfume collection.

The Birth of the House: Two Kinds of Expertise Come Together

Drawing on his experience at Givaudan, Rémi established his own perfumery laboratory in 2014: L’Atelier Français des Matières, the French Workshop of Materials. Handling the entire process from production and blending to bottling, this laboratory would become the heart of Les Indémodables.

Les Indémodables was officially born in 2016, bringing together Valérie’s distribution and retail expertise with Rémi’s knowledge of ingredients and manufacturing skills. Meaning “things that never go out of fashion,” or “timeless,” the name itself embodies the couple’s fragrance philosophy.

“The model represents a return to the quality of perfume manufacturing in the past.”

— From the brand overview by Luckyscent, an official retail partner

The House’s Commitments

A Promise Called the Charte d’Excellence

Les Indémodables has a Charte d’Excellence, or Charter of Excellence, that puts its quality philosophy into writing. It is not merely a slogan but functions as a practical commitment binding everyone involved in its products.

It has three central principles. The first is a “guarantee of raw-material quality”: perfumers are given quantitative constraints requiring meaningful proportions of the finest natural extracts. The second is “excellence in manufacturing”: L’Atelier Français des Matières handles every stage of production, from blending the fragrance to sealing the bottle. The house itself describes this arrangement as rare in the world of haute parfumerie, or high-end perfumery.

The third is the concept of “Parfum Millésimé, or vintage perfume.” Because natural materials are used, the scent may vary subtly according to the year in which they were harvested. The house does not regard this as a flaw, describing it instead as “a small revolution in the standardized landscape of today’s perfume industry.” The analogy with grand cru wine, the highest-quality wine from specific vineyards, reveals the heart of its philosophy of ingredients.

Transparency: Ingredient Percentages on the Bottle

Each bottle clearly states the percentages of the natural materials used. Chypre Azural, for example, lists 10% Sicilian Tarocco orange oil and 5% Indonesian grand cru patchouli. Extremely unusual in the industry, this demonstrates the house’s strong commitment to “transparency and authenticity.”

Sourcing and Proprietary Extraction Techniques

Rémi travels the world to visit small-scale farmers whose production is too limited to supply the major fragrance companies, entering into exclusive agreements with them. Relationships with growers who prioritize quality over quantity allow the house to secure reliable supplies of the finest materials, which it calls “grand cru.”

The laboratory has also developed and uses its own ultrasound extraction technology, producing extracts with scent profiles that conventional methods could not capture. This technology plays an important role in Ambre Suprême, Patchouli Noisette, and Vanille Havane “Coeur de Oud,” discussed below.

All products are bottled after blending, maturation, and maceration, or steeping, within the laboratory. For compositions containing high proportions of natural ingredients, each of these latter stages may take one to three weeks. The house describes them as “final adjustments equivalent to the lace finishing of haute couture.”

Bottles and Packaging

The bottles and packaging are produced in collaboration with Alpes Packaging, a local partner based in Annecy. The commitment to the Alpine region runs consistently through not only ingredient sourcing but packaging production as well.

Particular attention went into the packaging for the limited edition Vanille Havane “Coeur de Oud”: a case that unfolds like a flower, an embossed house emblem, printing in special white-gold ink, and even a personalized laser-engraving service were offered.

Distribution and Communication

The distribution policy remains “ultra-selective,” favoring independently owned physical boutiques. The house does not hesitate to pursue legal action against parallel imports and discounted reselling, or the gray market, and even places invisible codes on each bottle to identify the source of resale. Its official website also states that it declines requests to sponsor articles and values an independent, nonpartisan press. In Japan, stockists include LE SILLAGE in Kyoto.

The Perfume Collection

Two Perfumers

The collection is principally the work of two perfumers. Florence Fouillet Dubois composed the house’s early creations; Antoine Lie subsequently joined and has become its main perfumer.

Antoine Lie chose an independent path after creating numerous mainstream classics, including Versace Crystal Noir, Armani Code, and Comme des Garçons 888. His relationship with the house is exceptionally close, extending to sharing the laboratory of L’Atelier Français des Matières.

Eleven Creations from the Original Collection

The collection introduced here comprises 11 creations built around major olfactory families, including chypre, fougère, leather, and oriental, each reinterpreting that family’s essence through the power of its materials. The indicative price is €220 for 50 ml.

Chypre Azural: Created in 2016 by Florence Fouillet Dubois. A citrus chypre centered on 10% Sicilian Tarocco orange, with Indonesian patchouli, amber infusion, and Egyptian centifolia rose
Fougère Émeraude: An aromatic floral fougère with 15% Indian tuberose, French grand cru lavender, 1% Moroccan mimosa, and 3% Venezuelan tonka bean
Cuir de Chine: A fruity leather with 10% Chinese osmanthus and 1% Egyptian jasmine
Oriental Velours: A woody oriental with 15% Somali myrrh, 10% Haitian grand cru vetiver, and 2.5% Madagascan green vanilla
Iris Perle: A fresh floral powdery fragrance centered on French orris absolute, from iris rhizomes requiring seven years of cultivation and processing, accented with mimosa, jasmine, and ylang-ylang
Musc des Sables: A creamy woody musk combining warm musk with spiciness
Rose de Jamal: A multifaceted rose floral paired with the “milky” vibrations of Atlas cedar
Vanille Havane: The house’s most talked-about creation and the catalyst for its word-of-mouth reputation. A complex oriental layering rum, tobacco, dark chocolate, and floral vanilla
Ambre Suprême: Created in 2021 by Antoine Lie. Discussed below
Patchouli Noisette: Created in 2023 by Antoine Lie. Discussed below
Oranger Sirocco: A light, radiant citrus floral based on orange blossom

Two Particularly Noteworthy Creations

Ambre Suprême is an exceptional creation containing 10% extract of ambergris, a rare material originating in the sperm whale’s digestive tract, also known as “gray amber.” Because this material is difficult to obtain and expensive, the house explains that 99% of commercial perfumes claiming “ambergris” use synthetic substitutes. Antoine Lie described the material as imparting “a sheen, a patina, a feeling.”

Patchouli Noisette combines 35% grand cru patchouli, blending Indonesian and Madagascan varieties, with an ultrasound extract of Piedmont hazelnut, listed at 8% on the current official site, which the house describes as a material “used for the first time in the history of perfumery.” Rémi Pulvérail developed this hazelnut material within the laboratory using a 100% green extraction technology. It creates a space “between” patchouli’s dark, rugged facets and a praline-like smoothness.

Limited Edition

Vanille Havane “Coeur de Oud” (2024) was produced in a limited run of 500 individually numbered bottles. The laboratory used its proprietary ultrasound extraction technology to process extremely rare Cambodian agarwood heartwood from a collector in the Middle East, and Antoine Lie incorporated the resulting extract into the original Vanille Havane composition.

By the Way…

The Story Behind “Coeur de Oud”: Valérie initially refused outright to take part in the project, reacting against the flood of oud perfumes. Rémi and Antoine Lie proceeded with development in secret, without telling her. Faced with the finished creation, Valérie is said finally to have fallen under its spell.

According to the house, the hazelnut material in Patchouli Noisette was “used for the first time” in the perfume industry. The episode is emblematic of the fact that this house even develops its own materials in-house.

The immortelle, or helichrysum, extract in Ambre Suprême uses material sourced from the house’s privately owned fields in France. A sourcing strategy that extends to owning agricultural land neatly illustrates its commitment to ingredients.

“Maison de parfums et de supplément d’âme,” a house of perfumes and an added dimension of soul: this is Les Indémodables’ official slogan. Its view of perfume not simply as a consumer product but as “a part of the soul” is central to understanding the house.

References