Heritage
A house, in its own words
Romano Ricci launched Juliette Has a Gun in 2005, stepping out of his family's shadow by learning perfumery from scratch rather than inheriting a legacy. His great-grandmother Nina Ricci built a fashion house that defined Parisian elegance, and his grandfather Robert created L'Air du Temps—one of the world's most recognizable fragrances. Rather than rest on that history, Romano trained alongside master perfumer Francis Kurkdjian to build something entirely his own. The brand name itself announces the house's intentions: borrowed from Shakespeare's tragic heroine, but twisted. This Juliette doesn't die for love—she takes aim at convention. Within a few years of launch, the house had garnered serious industry recognition. In 2011, the French Fragrance Foundation awarded Romano its 'Special Prize of the Board,' honoring his ingenuity and creative contribution to the perfume world. Romano later expanded his influence beyond fragrance creation, co-founding NOSE—a curated perfumery in Paris's 2nd arrondissement that helps fragrance lovers navigate niche and independent houses. The brand celebrated its fifteenth anniversary around 2020, marking over a decade of provocative scent-making that continues to challenge expectations.
Juliette Has a Gun operates on a simple premise: perfume should be a statement, not just a pleasant smell. Romano Ricci set out to restore fragrance to its rightful place as an emblem of style and individuality, rejecting the notion that wearing a signature scent means simply smelling "nice." Each fragrance in the collection targets wearers who understand that scent is an extension of identity. The house takes an irreverent approach to genre conventions. Not Another Oud is, in fact, an oudh—because the best jokes land when you say them straight-faced. Not a Perfume swaps traditional composition for a radical minimalism built around two base-note ingredients given starring roles. The brand treats concepts like irony and self-awareness not as gimmicks but as legitimate creative tools. This philosophy extends to accessibility. Purse sprays arrive as silver bullet-shaped refillable atomizers—practical, portable, and just a little subversive. The refill program reflects a broader commitment to making niche perfumery less precious and more integrated into daily life.