Why it belongs in ORBIS
Paris niche perfume house founded in 2003 by Claude Marchal, who commissions noses including Pierre Bourdon and Patricia de Nicolaï and presents each fragrance in a bust-topped flacon inspired by historical Renaissance figures.
Parfums MDCI was founded in 2003 by Claude Marchal, who set out to treat perfume as an art object rather than a mass-market product. Marchal commissions established noses - among them Pierre Bourdon, Francis Kurkdjian, Patricia de Nicolaï, Stephanie Bakouche, Amandine Marie and Jeanne-Marie Faugier - to compose extrait-strength fragrances without a price ceiling on materials. Each scent is presented in a flacon topped with a bust modeled on a historical, often Renaissance-era, figure, an idea drawn from Marchal's own interest in 18th-century aesthetics and literature. The house frames its luxury as a matter of material quality and craft rather than price alone.