“A few years after I left Expressions Parfumées, Roberto persuaded me to return to the laboratory and encouraged me to compose for myself. I was tired after nearly forty years of creating within so many constraints, including budgets and marketing. I still had many ideas I had not been able to express, so when Roberto gave me ‘complete freedom,’ carte blanche, I could not have been happier.”
— Lucien Ferrero
Essential Information
Founded: 2019, France
Founder: Lucien Ferrero
Official website: anthologieparfums.com
The Founder and the Origins of the Brand
Born in Grasse, Growing Up with Scent
Lucien Ferrero was born in 1946 in Grasse, a town in southern France. In this place, often called the “perfume capital of the world,” he grew up in a family involved in producing fragrance raw materials. A childhood in surroundings where plants, flowers and scent were woven into everyday life would shape his later sensibility.
In his recollections, Lucien speaks of a defining night in his childhood.
“It was a summer evening in 1950, and I was five years old. I lay beside my grandfather on a bed of freshly cut hay, right next to a jasmine field, looking at the infinitely shining stars in the deep black night, in the dampness after a hot, humid day. Something unknown awoke within me. I did not yet know what the word ‘sensation’ meant, but I was enveloped in a vague feeling of wonder. It was as though the space around me had expanded into another dimension. That night, thanks to my grandfather, I came close for the first time to this living organism’s extraordinary, mysterious capacity: the ability to evolve within the universe using twelve senses.”
— Lucien Ferrero
Turning Toward Perfumery
As a young man, Lucien is said to have initially considered a path in agriculture or forestry. His passion for scent prevailed, however, and he changed direction. After completing military service in 1968, he enrolled at Givaudan’s perfumery school in Geneva, Switzerland. Having learned the fundamentals of perfumery in Geneva, he moved to Paris to develop his creative sensibility further, eventually joining Expressions Parfumées, a fragrance company in his hometown of Grasse that would later become part of Givaudan.
At this company, he would create approximately 50,000 fragrance compositions, or formulas, over a career spanning forty-six years.
The Master Who Stayed Behind the Scenes
A particular philosophy kept Lucien, even as he distinguished himself as a perfumer, a figure known mainly to those in the industry.
“The perfume should be the star, and I, as its perfumer, should remain behind the scenes.”
Guided by this belief, he spent most of his career “working with brands that did not disclose the perfumer’s name.” Behind the scenes, however, he brought numerous celebrated fragrances into the world. Especially notable is his long relationship with LUBIN PARIS, sometimes described as one of the world’s oldest perfume brands. In 1974, he created the house’s celebrated L de Lubin. He continued composing for it after its revival in 2004–2005, and Le Vetiver followed in 2007.
Lucien has also been involved in creating perfumes for a variety of brands, including Jacques Bogart, Laboratorio Olfattivo and Maison Tahité.
Decades of Friendship with Jean-Claude Ellena
During his time at Expressions Parfumées, Lucien met an important colleague: Jean-Claude Ellena, who would later achieve worldwide fame as “the nose of Hermès,” or Le nez d’Hermès. The two attended perfumery school in Geneva during the same period and later worked at the same company. Long-standing rivals and close allies bound by deep friendship, their relationship continued for half a century or more.
The “Scent of Love” That Set the Brand in Motion
Anthologie began with a chance occurrence. When fragrance producers Roberto and Daniela visited Lucien’s home, they were deeply drawn to the scent his wife was wearing. On asking about it, they learned that it was a perfume never sold commercially, specially composed for her alone by Lucien as a young man at the start of his perfumery career. It was a “scent of love” that had accompanied the couple for decades.
Convinced that it was “not merely a perfume but something special that touches people’s hearts and resonates with their souls,” Roberto proposed sharing the fragrance with the world through a new brand. At first, Lucien hesitated because of his long-held belief in remaining behind the scenes. His wife, however, wished for the scent to be loved by many people and spoke of “the joy of having the expression of a couple’s love live on forever and become a symbol of happiness for many.” He finally decided to establish a brand under his own name.
“One evening, I met Roberto and Daniela, and we exchanged our views on the world of fragrance. I was immediately captivated by their curiosity and by our shared approach to the mystery of perfume creation. The harmony I felt with them gave me the courage to embark on this new adventure after forty-five years in traditional perfumery.”
— Lucien Ferrero
And so, in 2019, the brand was born as Lucien Ferrero Maître Parfumeur. The initial lineup comprised three fragrances, Par Amour pour Elle, Par Amour pour Lui and Seringa Blanc, which debuted at Esxence in Milan in 2019.
Collaborating with Jean-Claude Ellena and Becoming “Anthologie”
A turning point for the brand came through collaboration with Jean-Claude Ellena, his friend of half a century. After forty years or more, the two reunited in a joint creative endeavour, producing C’est.Mutine and C’est.Rebelle.
To mark the announcement of this historic collaboration, the brand changed its name to Anthologie by Lucien Ferrero. “Anthologie” is French for a “self-selected collection” or “selection of masterpieces,” embodying the concept of a “final project” undertaken as the culmination of Lucien’s life as a perfumer.
What Defines the Brand
A Philosophy of Fragrance: Freedom from Constraints and the Primacy of Emotion
Throughout his long career, Lucien created fragrances within the “constraints” of corporate brand strategies, budgets and marketing. Anthologie stands at the opposite pole. The “complete freedom,” or carte blanche, of which he speaks is the foundation of the brand.
His approach to fragrance has an aesthetic of limiting the variety of materials and removing the unnecessary. Said to have developed through his exchanges with Jean-Claude Ellena, this approach limits his ingredient palette to approximately four hundred materials in pursuit of harmonious fragrances that are complex without being excessive. His commitment to natural materials has also remained constant, with his love of Provence and his olfactory memories running beneath each creation.
Jointly Developing Exclusive Materials
A notable feature of Anthologie’s lineup is the presence of three alcoholates that Lucien developed jointly with the Grasse fragrance company Accords et Parfums. An alcoholate is a material made by dissolving a botanical concrete, a solvent extract, in alcohol, allowing the texture of fresh flowers to be translated more naturally into scent.
The three materials developed were orange blossom, jasmine and rose. Described as materials that “recall the elegance of great perfumes of the past,” they were placed at the heart of the two fragrances co-created with Jean-Claude Ellena in particular. The brand presented them at Esxence in 2023 as a “world premiere” of these materials.
Packaging: Minimalism and Universality
The brand’s philosophy also runs through its exterior design. The glass bottles have a refined, minimalist design, while the boxes use FSC™-certified recycled paper containing 40% post-consumer waste.
Another distinctive feature is the use of Braille on every box. Made possible through collaboration with the Italian Union of the Blind, this initiative gives tangible form to the brand’s central message that “love is perceived through all the senses.”
The Fragrance Lineup
The Original Collection: Solo Creations by Lucien Ferrero
The first six fragrances introduced by the brand strongly reflect Lucien’s personal memories, emotions and love of music.
- Par Amour pour Elle / Love Dedicated to Her: The fragrance that prompted the brand’s creation. Its prototype was the perfume Lucien composed exclusively for his wife as a young man. A deep floral resembling a bouquet of white flowers, with Bulgarian rose, neroli, wild hyacinth, Indian tuberose, jasmine, labdanum and other notes.
- Par Amour pour Lui / Love Dedicated to Him: An amber-oriental fragrance featuring Andalusian leather, blond tobacco, coriander, vetiver and other notes. The counterpart to Par Amour pour Elle.
- Seringa Blanc / White Syringa: A pure white floral centred on neroli, white lilac and lily of the valley.
- Sakura Imperial / Heavenly Cherry Blossoms: An expression of Japanese flowers built around cherry blossom, composed with chamomile, cypress, jasmine, sandalwood and other notes.
- Harmonie Pastorale / Pastoral Harmony: Inspired by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, the Pastoral, which Lucien says he loves most. An aromatic composition scented with the plants of Provence, including mastic, lavender, peppermint and vetiver.
- Ce n’est pas un Patchouly / This Is Not a Patchouli: Although patchouli takes the leading role, this is a light interpretation entirely different from classic patchouli perfumes. An unusual composition in which mate tea absolute is said to make patchouli “rise into the sky.”
The Collaborative Collection: Lucien Ferrero × Jean-Claude Ellena
The two fragrances that opened a new chapter for the brand. At their core are the three alcoholates, orange blossom, jasmine and rose, jointly developed by the two perfumers.
- C’est.Mutine / A Reflection of Eternal Youth: A fresh floral fragrance featuring Italian green tangerine, petitgrain, lily and beeswax absolute. It crystallises the friendship and rebellious spirit of two men who “shared joys and hardships for many years as young rebels in the perfume world.”
- C’est.Rebelle / The Rebellious Spirit of Legends: A spicy woody fragrance with bitter orange, cinnamon, blue ginger, vetiver and patchouli. The counterpart to C’est.Mutine, with a darker, deeper composition.
Recent Releases
- Bois de Zanzibar / The Trees of Zanzibar: An homage to Zanzibar, the spice island in the Indian Ocean. A woody spicy fragrance that moves from a sparkling top of coriander, ginger and pink pepper to a heart of cedarwood, teak and rosewood, then a deep base of clove and vetiver.
- Rose Abricot / A Rose in the Sunshine: Released in 2025. A soft, luscious floral fruity composition featuring Turkish rose, apricot-like petit musc, sandalwood, vanilla and other notes. It imagines “a rose blooming at Lucien’s home, bathed in apricot light.”
By the Way…
- Roberto Drago is not only the producer of Anthologie but also the founder of another niche perfume brand, Laboratorio Olfattivo. That house’s Masters Collection includes Lucien’s Tantrico and Vetyverso, making the relationship between the three particularly interesting.
- Lucien also lectures at the European University of Tastes and Smells in Grasse, contributing to the education of the next generation of perfumers.
- Jean-Claude Ellena was born in Grasse and grew up with a perfumer father. After beginning his career at Chiris at sixteen, he studied at Givaudan in Geneva. His encounter with Lucien, at the same school in the same era, could perhaps be called an inevitable meeting.
References
- Anthologie Parfums Official Website, “Concept” – https://www.anthologieparfums.com/en/concept/
- NOSE SHOP, “Anthologie, a Brand That Can Be Called the Culmination of a Legendary Perfumer’s Career, Arrives in Japan for the First Time!” – https://noseshop.jp/blogs/blog/231102-ant-debut
- CaFleureBon, “Esxence 2019: Lucien Ferrero Par Amour pour Elle review” – https://cafleurebon.com/esxence-2019-lucien-ferrero-par-amour-pour-elle-review-maitre-parfumeur-draw/
- Saidelarteprofumiera.it, “Lucien Ferrero” – https://saidelarteprofumiera.it/lucien-ferrero/
- Beautynette.it, “Esxence Special: Jean-Claude Ellena and Lucien Ferrero with Anthologie” – https://www.beautynette.it/en/jean-claude-ellena-lucien-ferrero-presso-esxence/
- NOSE SHOP Press Release (PR TIMES) – https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000060.000024774.html
- Scent Split, “Anthologie Perfume Samples & Decants” – https://www.scentsplit.com/collections/anthologie
- DiParfum, “Lucien Ferrero” – https://diparfum.com/perfumers/lucien_ferrero_337/
- Perfumeria Laura, “Anthologie by Lucien Ferrero” – https://perfumerialaura.com/en/anthologie-by-lucien-ferrero/
- Anthologie Parfums Official Website, “Bois de Zanzibar” – https://www.anthologieparfums.com/en/product/bois-de-zanzibar/
- Anthologie Parfums Official Website, “Rose Abricot” – https://www.anthologieparfums.com/en/product/rose-abricot/
- NOSE SHOP, “Rose Abricot | A Rose in the Sunshine” – https://noseshop.jp/products/ant-pf-ra
