Heritage
A house, in its own words
Matiere Premiere, French for raw material, traces its roots to 2016, when founder Aurélien Guichard planted his first fields in the Grasse region. A trained perfumer from a family with deep roots in flower cultivation, Guichard spent years tending Rose Centifolia, Tuberose, and Lavandin before officially launching the brand in 2019 alongside co-founders Caius von Knorring and Cédric Meiffret. From the outset, the trio set out to build a Parisian fragrance house rooted in transparency, with Guichard serving as both nose and grower. The debut collection arrived in 2019 with compositions like Neroli Oranger, Encens Suave, Falcon Leather, Bois d'Ebene, Parisian Musc, and Santal Austral, establishing the house's signature approach of spotlighting one raw ingredient per scent. Radical Rose joined the lineup in 2020, followed by French Flower and Crystal Saffron in 2022, and Vanilla Powder in 2023. By 2024, the house expanded its Extrait de Parfum line with Encens Suave, Radical Rose, Falcon Leather, Crystal Saffron, and Santal Austral Extraits, offering denser interpretations of its core repertoire. The same year saw the brand extend its olfactory world into hand and body care, with Guichard adapting his eau de parfum formulations to textured skincare formats. A new Black Currant Extrait is slated for 2026, signaling continued exploration of singular natural materials. Matiere Premiere treats perfume as an act of devotion to a single ingredient. Every composition in the house centers on one raw material, then builds a structure around it that reveals texture, light, and shadow rather than masking the source. Guichard calls his approach a matter of revealing the most beautiful facets of each material, and the resulting fragrances read as concentrated portraits rather than layered puzzles. The brand operates between two poles: the fields of Grasse, where Guichard cultivates Rose Centifolia, Tuberose, and Lavandin personally, and Paris, where the compositions are finalized and brought to market. Formulas contain between 85% and 92% natural ingredients, a ratio that reflects a commitment to botanical sourcing without descending into absolutist rhetoric. The philosophy extends beyond scent into the body care line, where Guichard adapts his perfume structures to skincare textures, treating the skin itself as part of the composition. Everything circles back to the name: raw material first, always.