A room of one’s own. For Virginia Woolf it was a metaphor, for Nicolas Dewitte it became reality. After twenty-five years in the fragrance world, he launched Chambre52, his own perfume house. Built on memories, emotions and independence. The name recalls a hotel room, number 52, in São Paulo. That space became his own, for writing and introspection. It marked a turning point, the urge to create something personal. From those first notes grew the storytelling behind the first six eau de parfums.
The look and feel of his new creation begin with a rooftop mosaic in the exact colour remembered. It sets the scene. The bottles are designed by Pierre Dinand, the man of a thousand bottles, now ninety-two and still creating icons. Their silhouette recalls the proportions of classical columns. Modern classics in glass. Each flacon comes in 52 ml, deliberately, as well as 100 ml and 152 ml. All are refillable, made and packaged in France.
Chambre52
As a fresh start, Dewitte created six fragrances in collaboration with four perfumers. Each unfolds like a chapter. Orencie comes first, its name a rare and classical French one. The fragrance captures the freshness of morning light through curtains, with lychee, a modern rose and soft white musk. A balance of comfort and renewal. Soleil Tonka is the most personal, recalling surfing in the southwest of France. Wax on board, monoi, coconut water and a salty dive into the ocean. Bois Flotté evokes fragments of driftwood mixed with Baudelaire’s L’invitation au voyage, anchored in vetiver and cedar. Tabacco Memories turns introspective, created in Cannes with saffron, almond, dark cherries and tobacco leaves. It already won a FiFi Award, and the founder is now working on an extrait de parfum version.
“The process is not without doubt. Doubt is part of creation,” the founder admits, reflecting on the difficulty of facing blank pages after years inventing brands for others. That tension makes this house feel personal and grounded. Storytelling here is both olfactive and visual. The imagery comes from the founder’s close friend and collaborator, French director Cédric Jimenez, who brings a cinematic lens to the brand’s universe.
Every fragrance carries the trace of a personal story. Once worn, this becomes part of our own experiences. That is the idea of this house: personal, poetic and open to new interpretation. Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own echoes through the concept, the need for independence and imagination. There is something familiar in this idea, the way fragrance can create a sense of belonging. Every room, every space, can become a Chambre52.
Images by author, courtesy of Chambre52.
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