L'Antichambre

L'Antichambre opened in Brussels in 2005 under Anne-Pascale Mathy-Devalck, initially as a bespoke perfumery studio where clients sat with Anne-Pascale to build a personal scent from quality components. The process — combining base materials in test tubes before a final blend was bottled and labeled — made each fragrance a private archive, tied to the individual who commissioned it. In 2013, working with perfumer Vanessa Prudent, Anne-Pascale launched a ready-to-wear collection of parfums extraits available to the public. The twelve compositions carry the bespoke sensibility forward: they lean toward the gourmand and floral-gourmand registers, and many are designed to be layered — a heritage of the original workshop approach where layering was the point. The house remains a boutique operation, with the Brussels shop serving as its centre of gravity. It suits wearers who find Paris niche perfumery too formal and want something that feels personally crafted rather than editorially curated. Belgium's praline and chocolate culture is a quiet presence in the olfactive thinking.