Bureau Postal d’Orsay

Maison d’Orsay is a bicentennial French perfume house located in Paris, specialized in unisex perfumes that can be worn by couples. The story behind this particular position is that of Alfred d’Orsay, the creator of the firm. In the 1820s, Alfred d’Orsay falls madly in love with Marguerite Blessington, ten years younger than him and already married to another man. They live a secret passion and Alfred creates a fragrance that they both could wear, in remembrance of their lover. The perfume house was born. Through the years, the firm had many famous collaborators such as Jean Cocteau, Marie Laurencin, or Baccarat for their communication campaigns and the design of their bottles. Two hundred years later, the perfume house keeps this idea of high quality design for their creations with the direction of Amélie Huynh.

In 2019, d’Orsay opened a shop in the area of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris. Called the “Bureau Postal d’Orsay”, this shop is an homage to the long written correspondence Alfred d’Orsay and his lover had.

The design of the shop’s identity was given to be-poles, who decided to take another stand on the branding. While the logotype of the perfume house d’Orsay is based on Univers 49, a compressed sans serif, the studio used quite the opposite for the Bureau Postal, that is Mars Extended from Production Type. This clear contrast between the two typefaces underlines the special status of the shop regarding the brand and its concept-store dimension. Plus, while Mars Extended has a radical contemporary design, the letters molded in golden metal give a somewhat Art Deco atmosphere to the shop – which evokes the long history of the brand.