Lubin

History of the house

Lubin was founded in 1798 in Paris (France) by Pierre-Francois Lubin, a perfumer trained in the workshop of Jean-Louis Fargeon, the official perfumer of Marie Antoinette. The first shop opened on rue Sainte-Anne, then moved to rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honore, in a post-Revolutionary Paris where luxury perfumery was rebuilding around a new clientele issued from the Directory (Wikipedia EN article on Lubin perfume house, lubin-parfums.com Our History page, Bois de Jasmin profile, accessed 2026-05-23).

Pierre-Francois Lubin (1774-1853) was already known to the imperial circle before opening his own house. He had supplied Empress Josephine with personal compositions and remained one of her preferred perfumers throughout the Consulate and the First Empire. Under Napoleon Bonaparte, Lubin became one of the documented suppliers of the imperial court, and the maison appeared in the perfumery records of the early nineteenth-century Parisian luxury trade (Wikipedia EN, lubin-parfums.com, Persolaise editorial on heritage French houses).

Over the course of the nineteenth century, Lubin expanded its international reach. The house held royal warrants from the courts of Russia, Bavaria and Wurttemberg, and built a steady export business toward England, Russia and the United States. The catalogue centered on eaux de toilette, eaux de cologne and floral compositions in the classical French perfumery tradition. Lubin appeared in the Parisian Universal Expositions and figured among the reference Parisian houses cited in the specialist press of the Second Empire and the early Third Republic (Wikipedia EN, lubin-parfums.com archive, Bois de Jasmin).

The twentieth century was more uneven. The house changed hands several times, went through periods of commercial dormancy and lost ground to industrial brands and the rising couture perfume houses. A handful of compositions kept the Lubin signature in the French market Nuit de Longchamp in 1934 and Gin Fizz in 1955, two perfumes that remained in continuous circulation through the post-war decades (Fragrantica designer page, Parfumo, Basenotes).

In 2004, Herve Fretay acquired the dormant brand and relaunched the house. The editorial project combined historical reissues and new compositions signed by contemporary perfumers, with a clear positioning toward the international niche perfumery market. The 2004 relaunch placed Lubin among the heritage Parisian houses repositioned in niche perfumery during the early twenty-first century, alongside Houbigant and a handful of other long-dormant French names (Wikipedia EN, lubin-parfums.com, Now Smell This relaunch coverage).

Olfactive signature

Lubin practises a heritage French perfumery centered on Parisian elegance, with a catalogue built on three stylistic axes inherited from the founding period and reactivated after 2004. The signature combines structured citrus and aldehydic florals from the historical catalogue with denser oriental and woody compositions developed during the contemporary phase. The continuity between the two eras rests on a shared attention to eau de toilette and eau de parfum formats and on the use of full natural materials in the upper notes (Bois de Jasmin profile, Persolaise, Now Smell This, accessed 2026-05-23).

The first stylistic axis is the aldehydic floral, embodied by Nuit de Longchamp (1934) and reactivated through several contemporary releases. The second is the structured citrus, anchored by the original Eau de Toilette Lubin (1798) and Gin Fizz (1955), both built on bergamot, neroli and aromatic herbs in the classical French perfumery tradition. The third is a resinous oriental and spiced woody register developed since 2004, with Idole de Lubin (2005), Akkad (2012) and Korrigan (2010) extending the catalogue toward warmer compositions.

A French heritage perfume house anchored in the Napoleonic court, dormant for most of the twentieth century, relaunched in 2004 around historical reissues and contemporary niche compositions.

Key characteristics

Notable perfumes

The contemporary Lubin catalogue combines historical reissues and new compositions signed by contemporary perfumers. The releases below are (accessed 2026-05-23).

Idole de Lubin (2005) is the most cited contemporary Lubin composition in international fragrance literature. Composed by Olivia Giacobetti, the perfume is built on a rum and sugarcane accord with saffron, leather, cumin and dark woods. The launch coincided with the early phase of the 2004 relaunch and helped establish the new editorial direction of the house in niche perfumery (Fragrantica entry on Idole de Lubin, Now Smell This, Bois de Jasmin review).

Black Jade (2011) references a perfume box that belonged to Marie Antoinette, held at the Louvre, and proposes a floral oriental composition with rose, jasmine, sandalwood and resins. Korrigan (2010), composed by Delphine Thierry, is a gourmand woody built on chestnut, honey and tobacco. Akkad (2012), also signed by Delphine Thierry, develops a dense resinous oriental on benzoin, myrrh, labdanum and saffron, in the tradition of dark amber compositions (parfumscaron archives by comparison, lubin-parfums.com product pages, Fragrantica entries).

The house today

Lubin operates today as an active French heritage perfume house, distributed through selective channels in specialist perfumeries across Europe, North America and the Middle East. The catalogue articulates around two registers: historical reissues from the nineteenth and twentieth-century archive, including reformulated versions of Nuit de Longchamp and Gin Fizz, and new compositions signed by contemporary perfumers such as Olivia Giacobetti, Delphine Thierry, Thomas Fontaine and Daniela Andrier (lubin-parfums.com, Fragrantica designer page, Now Smell This, accessed 2026-05-23).

The editorial line developed since 2004 leans on the founding narrative of the house, with references to the Napoleonic court and to the early Parisian luxury trade appearing in product naming, packaging and the brand presentation. This historical anchoring positions Lubin among the heritage Parisian houses cited in international fragrance literature as part of the recent revival of dormant French names, a trend that includes Houbigant, Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier and a handful of other long-established maisons.

Production volumes remain modest by comparison with mainstream French perfumery, in line with niche perfumery distribution logic. The house has not been acquired by a global luxury group, which keeps it among the smaller independent operators of the heritage French segment. New releases continue at a regular pace, with the catalogue extending across eau de toilette, eau de parfum and a small number of extrait references.

Frequently asked questions

See also