D’ORSAY

D’ORSAY is a French perfume house whose roots go back to the early 19th century love affair between Count Alfred d’Orsay and Lady Marguerite Blessington. According to the brand’s own historical account, d’Orsay created a shared perfume for Marguerite around 1830, which they kept in a secret bottle so both could wear it discreetly. Later, in 1908, the Compagnie Française des Parfums d’Orsay was founded in Paris to preserve and develop this scented legacy as a dedicated perfume house.

During the early 20th century, D’ORSAY worked with prominent artists and artisans: Jean Cocteau, Marie Laurencin and Georges Lepape created campaigns, while Baccarat, Daum and Lalique produced elaborate bottles. The house released nearly fifty perfumes and sold some references in quantities reaching five million bottles a year, with flagship boutiques on boulevard des Italiens and rue de la Paix in Paris and on Fifth Avenue in New York. One of its historical fragrances, Tilleul (Linden), was originally formulated in 1915 and remains in the collection today.

In 2015, entrepreneur Amélie Huynh rediscovered the dormant brand and began reviving it; a relaunched boutique followed in 2019. The modern D’ORSAY focuses on unisex compositions structured around different forms of love and relationships, with each scent named like a coded phrase and linked to an initial that hints at a hidden “portrait” of the perfumer. The line now spans personal fragrances, candles and diffusers, produced with a strong emphasis on French craftsmanship and local glassmakers, waxmakers and jewellers.