The young boy tiptoes his way up the marble staircase of a forgotten palace. Once at the top floor, he sneaks into a mighty suite.

A perfume flask gleams inside a dusty bedside table. Intrigued by the unlabelled phial he investigates.

Was it left behind by the Indian princess who often stayed in this apartment?

 

The perfume smells of lilac. Where could it possibly come from? Coty, Houbigant, Gabilla, Lenthéric?

Perhaps the fragrance had been composed expressly for her?

Little did he know that this tiny time capsule straight from the golden age of modern perfumery contained his future.

It is to recapture the magic of his serendipitous find, that Philippe Neirinck founded la Parfumerie Moderne.