Our history
Our history
« The only real trip, the only fountain of youth, wouldn’t be to visit new places, but to have new eyes. »
How our brand was born
AB 1882 is first and foremost a family-owned company and back in 1882, Alexis Biette wrote the first chapter of our story, when he acquired a candle production site. As years went by, thanks to his innovative and courageous choices, his company was able to diversify. They began to sell soap for laundry, for washing, as well as perfumes. The company expanded for years on end before the consequences of the Second World War suddenly plunged it into years of silence and oblivion.
In 1980, a discovery changed everything. Arnaud Biette, Alexis’s great-grandson, found an old trunk up in the attic that was filled with archives, enough so that he was able to unravel the history of his family. Assisted by former employees, museums and industrials in the region, he rediscovered his family’s company and its history over its 80 years of existence.
In 2020, Marie Giffo, Alexis’s great-granddaughter, took over the helm. She refused to abandon her family’s heritage to its century old sleep, and jointly founded AB 1882 with Marielle Ravily, a professional fragrance evaluator. Together they woke the brand up again and brought it firmly back into the twenty-first century. Natural ingredients, made in France, use of craftsmanship and local know-how: nothing was left to chance to propose perfumes that match today’s consumer expectations. From its packaging to the finished product, they create fragrances that sublimate everyday life.
Our brand today
Today, AB 1882 is officially registered as the second Company with a Mission in the west of France (after Yves Rocher) in the domain of natural perfumes. Our goal is clear: reconciliation of luxury goods and environmental responsibility. Thus beyond the renaissance of family and local know-how, AB 1882’s mission is to reinvent up-market perfumes by relocating the entire process locally. To achieve this, we are basing ourselves on AB 1882’s history to foster conscious and elegant dynamics in French haute parfumerie. In the future, we want to make solid skin perfume, that is nomad and alcohol-free our specificity, thus guaranteeing you authentic and sophisticated perfumes.
To reach this goal, we are federating the cream of French know-how in perfumes and their production processes. Our perfumes and their cases are thus the sum of multiple and united talents, hard-working people who all love beauty, and are motivated and patient for AB 1882’s renaissance. Each day, artists and artisans design and manufacture our perfumes and their cases to fulfil expectations today’s men and women have. You can find more about everyone’s work in detail by discovering our eco-system.
