If you follow your nose down Piccadilly Arcade, you will soon find yourself at the door of Marc-Antoine Barrois. To enter the master perfumiers is to tumble down the rabbit hole of sensory discovery — there’s literally a rabbit out of Alice in Wonderland there to welcome you.
Maison Marc-Antoine Barrois joined the row of exquisite offerings at the Piccadilly Arcade in 2022. We spoke with the founder and artistic director, Marc-Antoine Barrois, and his brother Quentin Barrois, Head of UK Operations, about how a brand that’s so innately French found a spiritual home in the Piccadilly Arcade, one of the most quintessentially English pockets in all of London.
What makes a Marc-Antoine Barrois perfume special?
MAB: I invite you to come and discover for yourself! But one thing in our DNA that I believe makes a difference is the sincerity we put into what we do. I create with my heart and never for market reasons.
QB: We like to create beautiful things and to create value. Respect is important to us — respecting our customers, our suppliers, and the people who work for us. If you love what you create, you will do something respectful. This all goes back to Marc-Antoine’s background in haute couture. [The founder’s pedigree includes Hermès with Jean-Paul Gaultier and at Jitrois, as well as the tutelage of Dominique Sirop.] There’s an elegance to our brand.
What do you think your shop brings to Piccadilly Arcade?
MAB: With humility, I think it brings poésie [poetry] and emotion. London has set a standard for retail that is super high. I hope that my store can make kids’ eyes sparkle, in the same way that my kids’ eyes were sparkling at the sight of store windows in the arcade when they first saw them. The NºIV scented candle is named for our address — 4 Piccadilly Arcade. How did you develop it?
MAB: I am a dreamer — London was a dream. With the store in the arcade, I dreamt of a big blue rabbit to live in the boutique. It inspired the wonderful, scented candle named NºIV. It is a lavender and carrot flower composition that embodies a chic Victorian fantasy.
QB: Marc-Antoine takes his time when creating new scents — he took his time in the shop to smell the atmosphere and the energy. For me, the lavender scent matches well with the English way of seeing.
You mentioned creating with respect — this seems to also echo in your commitment to protecting the environment.
MAB: I am faithful to my ecological beliefs. Our products are made in France, using recyclable packaging. They are composed with no UV filters or preservatives, and we are committed to constantly improving.
QB: We want to respect the nature that is all around us. We do not use plastic in our products. We choose everything very carefully: nothing is done without thinking. This is why we launch maybe one new perfume every year — we want to give each product the time and attention to shine.
How has St James’s inspired you?
QB: We love the plane trees that are everywhere in the city — the London plane. They are beautiful, but you have to wait a long time before that becomes apparent. We use cuts from the London plane in the shop. It is like a message that the most important thing is not always what you can see from the outside. You have to go deeper. Across our brand, we like to be careful with every detail. If you look at the packaging for the NºIV candle, the illustration is the shape that you see as you enter the Piccadilly Arcade. It’s just a little reminder to spend time on the small details, to look around, and take your time.
