The Story of Diptyque

The Story of Diptyque

The story of Diptyque chronicles the creative adventure of three friends inspired by nature, travel and art, who founded a Maison of artists.

1961: the The kindling of an imagination

Three artists, three free spirits, one vision. At the turn of the Sixties, at a time of tremendous excitement and optimism marked by a strong desire for modernity, Desmond Knox-Leet, Christiane Montadre-Gautrot and Yves Coueslant invented a new kind of space; a space made in their image; a celebration of the senses; a tribute to daring, where their creativity shone alongside objects sourced from around the world. Bound by a sense of beauty, a love of nature, and an insatiable curiosity, the three friends brought Diptyque to vivid life.Part artist's studio, part cabinet of curiosities, Diptyque opened in Paris’s 5th arrondissement, a bohemian haven where heritage merged with modernity. At 34 boulevard Saint-Germain, the three friends became ""purveyors of trifles"". Over the course of their encounters and travels, they unearthed antiques, decorated and refashioned exotic and everyday objects, and filled the shelves of this concept store ahead of its time.

Diptyque’s founders: A trio of artists and friends

Paris, 1949. The story begins. Desmond is a painter, a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts, the Paris school of fine arts. Christiane is an interior architect, trained at the French national school of decorative arts, the Arts décoratifs. One is an accomplished artist; the other has a passion for craftsmanship. Each is the mirror image of the other. Their inevitable friendship is shaped by memories of Desmond’s summers in the South of France, and Christiane’s childhood garden on the fringes of Fontainebleau. With taste and discernment, they work together to create designs for upholstery fabrics sold at Liberty and Sanderson in London.A decade later, by a twist of fate, they cross paths with Yves Coueslant. This globe-trotting son of a banker raised in Indochina (present-day Vietnam) establishes an immediate rapport with Christiane and Desmond, himself heir to a British noble family. Together, they make an inseparable trio of friends. And from this encounter springs a creative ambition – the dream of founding their own Maison.

We were artists. We were not driven by ambition, but rather by passion, imagination, creativity and the desire to do something with true integrity

CHRISTIANE MONTADRE-GAUTROT

THE SIGNATURES OF A NEW ART OF LIVING

In 1963, the trio of artists invented one of the Maison's signatures by carving out new territory for the scented candle. Previously a purely practical item, the candle was transformed, in their hands, into a decorative and sensory object. Now it was possible to travel without ever leaving your living room, to lend your home a distinctive character. With the simplest of gestures, this refined and creative object took on a universal character to become the icon of a new art of living.

Aubépine (Hawthorn), Cannelle (Cinnamon) and Thé (Tea) were the first scents in a herbarium inspired by nature’s sensations – an olfactory landscape of spices, flowers and leaves. This original process is part of the legacy bequeathed by Desmond Knox-Leet, who composed his fragrances as a painter prepares his palette, by mixing his raw materials.

THE SIGNATURES OF A NEW ART OF LIVING

Five years later, Diptyque continued its olfactory explorations when it released its first eau de toilette. The inspiration for L’Eau came from a 16th-century recipe containing cinnamon, rose, clove, geranium and sandalwood – a nod to traditional clove-studded English orange ‘pomanders’.

Like no other genre, L’Eau is an olfactory work of art. The first in a collection of eaux de toilette and fragrances, it promised boundless wanderings through distant lands: journeys into the intimate workings of a real or imagined memory.

THE FRAGRANT LINE: AN ARTISTIC ADVENTURE

A sensory encounter between nose, eye and hand, Diptyque’s creations are the fruit of a singular creative philosophy. The Maison’s founders may have drawn inspiration from a fragrance to create an image, or an image to create a fragrance, but were always guided by the light of creative freedom.

Perfumers and illustrators work hand in hand to this day. Each of Diptyque’s fragrances is a collective work that celebrates an encounter between the Maison’s imagination and their respective sensibilities.

DIPTYQUE’S INSPIRATIONS

NATURE

Diptyque is rooted in a shared passion for nature, authenticity and truth. Wild, lively and colourful, nature guided the founding trio to create their first scents. A nature teeming with essences and materials, it recalls the landscapes prized by the three friends for their restorative qualities.

TRAVEL

Travel also broadened their horizons. Their wanderings led them from Europe to Asia, and from Venice to Moscow, and they followed in the footsteps of the ancient Greeks on dreamlike journeys. Their passion for travel and fascination for distant lands furnished them with memories they would later translate into fragrances and drawings. These recollections are the Maison’s primary source of inspiration.

GRAPHIC ARTS

Drawing on their shared passion for the graphic arts, the trio also created a playful and subtle new language. Graphic design was now a medium for expression; a gateway to the world of Diptyque. The Maison’s founders sought to strike an artful balance between images and words, black and white and colour, motif and figurative drawing. An iconic visual code comprising the oval, the fragrance burner and a host of dancing letters, like riddles to decipher, became part of the essence of the Maison’s identity.

An invitation on a voyage through Diptyque's worlds

Fragrances

At Diptyque, perfume is an invitation to embark on a journey - one on which, from the very first notes, our imagination and senses awaken. Far from the beaten track, perfumes and perfume gestures beckon you to follow in their sillage, discovering unexpected fragrances and compositions.

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L'ombre dans L'Eau

Baies Candle

Worlds of Diptyque

Essences by Diptyque

L'Ombre dans l'Eau

Candle of the month: Freesia

Scented soaps

Satin Oil

Black Medicis Vase

A thoughtful gesture

Waxmaking expertise

The Story of Diptyque