Maesa Founders Bet 30 Million Euros on Ode Parfums

Grégory Mager and Julien Saada are investing 30 million euros in Ode Parfums, a direct-to-consumer fragrance brand they say will undercut niche perfumery priced at "250, 300, 400, 500 euros." The founders, who built private-label manufacturer Maesa starting in 1997, begin selling in January.

"We want to be the brand for everybody," said Mager, who cofounded Ode alongside Saada, "to make affordable luxury in order to disrupt the market, and make high creativity, high quality accessible to all."

How did two Maesa founders arrive at Ode?

Mager and Saada met at age 15 in the South of France, the birthplace of modern perfumery. They cofounded Maesa in 1997 as a maker of private-label perfumes and cosmetics for specialty fashion retailers; the company now also works as a brand incubator. The pair sold majority control of Maesa to Bain Capital seven years ago and remain board members and minority shareholders.

"This gave us the opportunity to really look deep into what we wanted to do," Mager said. "Julien and I are still young, and more importantly, we felt that there was still a lot to do in beauty."

Their supply-chain knowledge shapes the pricing thesis. "When you strip distribution, marketing and celebrity endorsement, the true actual cost of goods is not very high," Mager explained. "We've always felt that there was a big disconnect between the cost of a product and the retail price point." He cites work done for Zara, H&M and Primark as proof that "fantastic quality for affordable price points" is achievable.

What does Ode sell?

Three collections with about 250 stock keeping units launch in the first year. Industry sources estimate the brand will generate 5 million euros to 10 million euros in that timeframe, with acceleration in the second or third year.

The first 12 months bring 30 eaux de parfum, each concentrated at 20 to 26 percent, in 15-ml. and 75-ml. sizes, plus soap, lotion, hand cream, a candle and a diffuser. Prices run from 20 euros to 140 euros. Every fragrance is genderless, created by a Mane perfumer in Grasse, France, with no constraints.

The Mixology collection, 14 fragrances pairing two unlikely olfactive ingredients — one from fragrance, one from flavors — arrives in January. Hojicha Bergamote combines roasted green tea and bergamot; Baguette Tonka mixes sourdough bread and tonka bean.

Azur follows in May: eight perfumes in terracotta bottles with ceramic caps, tracing a day on the Côte d'Azur from Jardin Neroli through the green Maquis to the gourmand Sunset Gelato. Alchemy, eight fragrances, lands in September. "This one is more about feelings and emotions," Saada said.

All products are made in France. Packaging is refillable, with aluminum labels, molded stone caps, opaque glass and molded recycled paper-pulp outer containers. "We want to highlight what's inside the bottle and not the packaging itself," Mager said. Design agency Saint-Lazare created the architectural, multifaceted bottles and the store architecture.

Where will consumers buy it?

Ode skips retailers and distributors entirely. A global e-commerce platform launches in January; stores begin at the end of February. The first flagship, 2,150 square feet on Rue de Richelieu in Paris, opens in March with a lab in its window, a giant fragrance bottle, screens throughout, an olfactive organ and a discovery cabin with video, sound and fragrance. Customers can refill bottles in-store at half the price of an original product, and the store will host weekly workshops on raw materials.

Two London stores are planned for the end of 2027 and one in New York in 2028. The target: 20 freestanding stores in three years, 200 in 10 years.

Ode claims a first: "We are going to be the first brand to have the same fragrance for many different products: home, personal care and fine fragrance," Mager said. "We've built this as a real 360-experience."

"We want them to think about Ode as the new Apple store of perfume, in a way," Saada said.