“I like to call myself a ‘scent hunter.’”
Antonio de Figueiredo (translated from French)
A red shopfront faces Place du Marché Sainte-Catherine in Paris’s Marais district. Behind it, Marie Antoinette is a multi-brand perfume shop that introduces both historic perfume houses and contemporary creators. Its owner, Antonio de Figueiredo, selects not only fragrances but also the reasons that make people want to tell others about them.
Essential Information
- Opened: December 1, 2007
- Founder and owner: Antonio de Figueiredo
- Address: 5 rue d’Ormesson, 75004 Paris, France
- Business: Independent perfume specialist carrying multiple houses
- Official website: Marie Antoinette Paris
From Home Fragrance to a Perfume Specialist
Studying Wine and Rediscovering Frapin
Antonio specialized in wine at hotel school and also spent three years working in a home-fragrance shop. When he opened his own shop in 2007, products for scenting rooms were still its main focus. It occupied a small space that had once been a shoe-repair shop. The official website gives its size as approximately 12 square meters.
Beautiful though the setting was, the street did not enjoy much passing foot traffic. As he felt the need to give the shop a more distinct identity, Frapin’s perfumes became a turning point. The name of a cognac he had encountered at a tasting during his studies appeared before him again, this time as perfume. His past studying wine and his new business came together here.
He subsequently added houses including Parfum d’Empire, Robert Piguet, and D’Orsay, shifting the emphasis toward perfume worn on the skin. Claus Porto, meanwhile, had been there since the beginning and had a personal connection: his grandfather had used its cologne. Memories of his native Portugal remained part of the work of building a new shop.
A Name Combining His Grandmother Maria and Antonio
The starting point for the name, which evokes the queen, was his grandmother Maria and his own name, Antonio. The queen’s image was layered onto those names. His grandmother made rose cologne for the family. The official website likewise recounts his memory of her sprinkling him with rose cologne as a child as part of the shop’s origins.
The key to understanding the shop lies less in recreating a magnificent royal palace than in the closeness of scent and human memory. The owner’s own family fragrance became the shop’s name, while visitors’ individual memories provide a starting point for conversation in the store.
A Meeting Place for Creators and Enthusiasts
The little shop also became a place to meet creators in person. In 2012, it hosted a gathering at which perfumer Andy Tauer presented Miriam. Visitors heard him explain a fragrance from a project connecting cinema and perfume. The account of that day, when the owner and perfumer welcomed visitors, also records perfumes from different countries, Portuguese soaps and colognes, and portraits of creators sharing the same space.
Introducing the people behind the shelves is not an abstract ideal here. As well as a place where bottles change hands, the shop sometimes becomes somewhere to hear directly from the person who made a fragrance.
A Selection Connecting Historic Houses and Contemporary Creators
A Fragrance’s Identity and Its Creator’s Approach
“I always meet the creators.”
Antonio de Figueiredo, 2015 (translated excerpt from French)
Antonio’s selection takes into account not only a distinctive olfactory identity but also the creator’s approach. Reading his words from 2015 alongside the categories on the current official website reveals parallel interests in historic houses and creators working today.
As of October 2026, the official Nos Maisons page lists Oriza L. Legrand, Houbigant, Robert Piguet, Isabey, Lubin, and Le Galion, among others. Nor is this a shop devoted exclusively to historic names. Parfum d’Empire, Histoires de Parfums, Marc-Antoine Barrois, Olfactive Studio, and Headspace also appear.
Barrois, for example, is a house presenting a collaboration between a couture designer and perfumer Quentin Bisch. Olfactive Studio brings photography and perfume together. Brands with different creative starting points can be compared in the same shop. That breadth is what makes visiting a retailer of several prominent niche houses worthwhile. The names mentioned here come from the official presentation of the selection; they do not guarantee stock of individual products on a particular day or the opportunity to sample every creation.
Fewer Brands, Presented More Fully
In 2015, Antonio said he wanted to reduce the number of brands so that he could present each one better. His goal at the time was a maximum of 15 brands. This was his policy then, not the current number carried. Rather than filling small shelves without limit, it was a choice about what he could communicate through them.
In 2025, IRK Magazine also presented photographs of the shop’s interior, where perfumes from old names sit alongside contemporary creations. Rather than a choice between tradition and novelty, these are shelves from which to look at perfume across different eras. That is the shape of this shop.
Service That Weaves in Stories and Compares Fragrances on Skin
From Ingredient Names to Conversations About Scenes
“I never talk about ingredients, but prefer to tell stories.”
Antonio de Figueiredo, 2015
Images of times and places appear when he explains fragrances. Not all of them, however, are the brands’ official creation stories. They also include images that came to him while wearing the perfume. This approach allows both the creator’s inspiration to be communicated and the person smelling it to develop a scene of their own.
In the sampling method he described in 2015, he first chooses a fragrance intuitively, then suggests other candidates. The two remaining choices are compared on the wrists. Rather than restricting the possibilities from the outset to preferred ingredients or familiar favorites, the method observes the response between the fragrance and the person in front of him.
“Your olfactory memory is always right.”
Antonio de Figueiredo (translated from French)
Not everyone needs to imagine the same landscape from the same bottle. These few words suggest that visitors need not simply follow the shopkeeper’s stories: they can experience a fragrance through their own memories.
Current Private Sampling and the Shop
The current official website also offers a rendez-vous olfactif for up to four people, with exclusive use of the shop for an hour and a half. This is a private opportunity to select perfume, not a service presented as creating bespoke fragrances. It is distinguished from an ordinary shop visit, with reservations and conditions to be discussed directly with the shop.
The address is 5 rue d’Ormesson in Paris’s fourth arrondissement. The interest of this shop, which began in a space of approximately 12 square meters, does not lie solely in trying many bottles at once. It lies in moving between old houses and new creators, guided by Antonio’s experience and words.
Historical Timeline
| Period | Event |
|---|---|
| December 1, 2007 | Opens in the Marais, initially focusing on home fragrance. |
| After opening | An encounter with Frapin becomes the turning point for expanding the selection of perfumes worn on skin. |
| 2012 | Hosts an event at which Andy Tauer presents Miriam. |
| 2015 | In interviews, Antonio discusses meeting creators when choosing brands and incorporating stories into service. |
| 2025 | IRK Magazine presents photographs of the shop at 5 rue d’Ormesson. |
| October 2026 | The official website lists historic houses and contemporary brands, alongside private sampling for up to four people. |
References
- Interview with Antonio de Figueiredo on his approach to perfume retail — Clara Muller / Auparfum, July 16, 2015
- Marie Antoinette Paris — official history, owner profile, and private sampling
- Interview with Antonio de Figueiredo following Pitti Fragranze — Miguel Matos / Fragrantica, 2015
- Presentation of Miriam by Andy Tauer in Paris — Elena Knezevic / Fragrantica, 2012
- Nos Maisons — official list of houses carried
- Marc-Antoine Barrois — the shop’s official brand introduction
- Olfactive Studio — the shop’s official brand introduction
- A guide to five niche perfume shops in Paris — IRK Magazine, 2025
