Fragrance house

Frederic Malle

Frédéric Malle founded Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle in 2000 after training at Roure and working in perfume creation and luxury-house consulting. The house opened its first boutique at 37 rue de Grenelle in Paris on June 6 that year, launching with nine fragrances. Its founding idea was to treat perfume as a publishing practice: independent perfumers received prominent authorship, with their names placed on the bottles, while Malle served as editor and curator rather than sole perfumer. The model gives perfume authors broad creative freedom, including no fixed deadline and no limit on ingredient quantities. Estée Lauder Companies acquired the house in January 2015, and it is now part of the group’s fragrance portfolio. Musc Ravageur, created by Maurice Roucel among the original 2000 fragrances, became one of the house’s bestsellers; Portrait of a Lady, created by Dominique Ropion in 2010, is described as one of its most emblematic and best-known fragrances. In 2024, Frédéric Malle collaborated with Acne Studios on the fashion label’s first fragrance, composed by Suzy Le Helley.