Isolée: From Madrid Concept Store to Beauty Galleries

“We are an umbrella sheltering many brands.”

José Luis Robles, 2016 (translated excerpt from Spanish)

A small perfume section surrounded by clothes, food, and design objects in Madrid’s Chueca district: this was the starting point of Isolée, which grew into a specialist perfume and beauty retailer. Rather than beginning with a fully formed philosophy of perfume, the shop itself changed through encounters between the brands it brought in and the people looking for them.

It brings the individuality of makers both to people who take their time exploring fragrances in a street-front shop and to those who happen upon an unfamiliar brand in a department store. Connecting these two kinds of encounter is characteristic of Isolée’s work.

Essential Information
From a Corner of a Concept Store to a Place for Discovering Perfume
The Shop’s Thinking, Expressed Through Selection and Service
Current Shops and Ways Into Perfume
References

Essential Information

Name: Isolée
Company founded: 2004 / First shop opened: 2005
Co-founders: José Luis Robles, Rodrigo Menéndez, and others
Origins: Chueca district, Madrid, Spain
Business: Perfume and beauty retail, online sales, and brand distribution
Official website: Isolée

From a Corner of a Concept Store to a Place for Discovering Perfume

An Independent Venture After Careers in Design and Communications

After working in design and communications, Robles and Menéndez started their own shop. Travel and research showed them the potential of concept stores, which were still uncommon in Spain. The company began in 2004, and its first shop opened at 19 Calle Infantas in 2005.

At the time, Chueca was a district where independent shops and new ideas came together. The shop’s name comes from the French word for “isolated.” It gave a name to their own position, standing apart from other shops.

The space designed by architect Teresa Sapey brought together a restaurant, a champagne bar, gourmet food, fashion, and gifts. Perfume was not the main attraction, but one of the many pleasures of everyday life offered there.

The Growth of a Perfume Section That Once Occupied Just 10%

In 2016, Robles explained that perfume had occupied only about 10% of the shop at its opening. They saw an opportunity to introduce fragrances being made elsewhere in Europe that were still difficult to find in Spain.

In 2008, they opened a second concept store on Calle Claudio Coello in the Salamanca district. Here, an entire floor was devoted to perfume and cosmetics. Fashion brands seeking distinctive settings in which to present their fragrances and limited editions also encouraged this development.

In time, perfume and cosmetics took up more space, and even the restaurant area was converted to beauty. A shop bringing together products from different fields became one that explored fragrance and beauty in depth. Specialization was a path chosen gradually as the business continued.

Creating a Small Isolée Shop Inside a Department Store

In 2013, Isolée opened a retail space in El Corte Inglés’s Diagonal department store in Barcelona. Rather than simply supplying products wholesale, it was a shop-in-shop: an independent retail area within the department store, staffed and operated by Isolée itself.

Menéndez placed particular importance on staff who could explain lesser-known brands.

“A very high level of training is needed.”

Rodrigo Menéndez, 2014 (translated excerpt from Spanish)

Not everyone visiting a department store arrives looking for niche perfume. People who discover the section while walking past need to understand what makes it different. Some customers already have a reason to visit a street-front shop; others happen upon the counter by chance. Having contact with both widened the reach of the perfumes Isolée introduced.

The Move Toward Beauty Galleries

Beauty Gallery by Isolée, opened in Madrid’s Galería Canalejas in 2022, provided individual brand spaces across approximately 700 square meters. Rather than simply placing several brands on uniform shelves, this format allowed each to show its own world.

In 2024, Isolée acquired the Portuguese perfume and skincare specialist Skinlife, expanding across the border. In 2026, its flagship at 55 Calle Claudio Coello was also renovated and relaunched as a beauty gallery. With private treatment rooms newly introduced, the experience has become more specifically focused on perfume and beauty expertise.

“Covid made us reflect and take important decisions.”

Rodrigo Menéndez, 2026 (translated excerpt from Spanish)

Menéndez describes the pandemic as a turning point for reconsidering acquisitions and the move away from the concept-store model. Rather than preserving the original mixed shop’s pleasures unchanged, Isolée deepened the perfume and beauty specialties it had developed.

Isolée Timeline

Year	Event
2004	The company is founded.
2005	The first concept store opens on Calle Infantas in Chueca.
2007	The shop receives an award recognizing innovative retail establishments in Madrid.
2008	A second concept store opens on Calle Claudio Coello.
2013	Shop-in-shop expansion with El Corte Inglés begins.
2018	The Burgos shop opens.
August 2021	The original Infantas shop closes.
2022	A beauty gallery opens in Galería Canalejas.
2024	Isolée acquires Skinlife in Portugal.
May 2026	The flagship at 55 Calle Claudio Coello reopens after renovation as a beauty gallery.

The Shop’s Thinking, Expressed Through Selection and Service

Bringing Customer Feedback Back Into Brand Selection

Isolée works in both retail and distribution. It learns how customers respond in its own shops while also bringing brands to other retailers. In his 2014 account, Menéndez described a specific system: every day, staff recorded brands customers had asked for that the shop did not carry, and recurring names were considered.

Selection means not only choosing what the team likes, but also listening for what visitors are seeking. Continuing relationships with business partners also play a role. The process encompasses how a perfume will be developed after it has been bought and placed on the shelf.

In 2024, Robles spoke of his reluctance to serve only a small, closed circle of customers.

“Everyone should have access to a good fragrance, just as everyone can appreciate a good film.”

José Luis Robles, 2024 (translated excerpt from Spanish)

This does not mean uniformly low prices. Rather, while selling luxury perfumes, the shop does not begin by narrowly defining who can understand and enjoy them.

Meeting Local Perfume Enthusiasts in Burgos

Madrid’s luxury shopping destinations, frequented by travelers, do not tell the whole story of Isolée’s work. The Burgos shop, opened in 2018, is at 7 Calle San Juan in the old town.

Here, Robles sought contact with local people interested in stepping beyond familiar fragrance conventions. Offering tourists brands they already know and helping local customers discover new tastes serve different purposes. Burgos was chosen as a place where the shop could cultivate a new audience for perfume.

Events for Meeting Makers and Learning About Fragrance

In 2026, the Claudio Coello shop’s official Isolée Events program lists reservation-only gatherings with brand founders and perfumers. Examples include Goldfield & Banks founder Dimitri Weber on October 15, Mizensir founder and perfumer Alberto Morillas on October 20, and Atelier Materi founder Véronique Le Bihan on November 16.

These offer more than the chance to compare bottles: visitors can hear directly from makers about plants, ingredients, and the thinking behind their compositions. Dates and participation conditions vary by event, but the program shows how the shop extends its role of connecting perfume and people beyond the sales floor.

Current Shops and Ways Into Perfume

As of October 2026, the official store directory lists the Claudio Coello shop and Galería Canalejas in Madrid, the Burgos shop, and El Corte Inglés spaces in cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Marbella, Palma, Bilbao, and Seville. The Infantas shop in Chueca closed in August 2021 and should be distinguished from current places to visit.

In 2023, Time Out Madrid described the Claudio Coello shop as a three-level space combining clothing, books, household goods, and perfume. That was the concept store as it existed then. Following its 2026 renovation into a beauty gallery, its emphasis has shifted toward personal consultations and specialist beauty experiences.

Online, visitors can explore perfumes and brands, providing a point of contact for people who do not live near a shop. A place to replenish a favorite perfume and a place to encounter a new fragrance in person complement one another.

English-language Reddit discussions about perfume shopping in Spain also include posts naming Isolée among Madrid’s niche perfume shops. These suggest its visibility as somewhere to explore unfamiliar fragrances in person.

What makes Isolée interesting is that it was not founded solely for perfume. A shop selecting all kinds of things for everyday life became a fragrance specialist through successive encounters between customers and brands. That history of rethinking its choices remains connected to its polished retail spaces today.