- ICON’S 26, a temporary gallery dedicated to Asian artistic perfumery, has officially opened at the Musée International de la Parfumerie in Grasse, bringing together around 200 fragrance industry stakeholders and international guests at its inauguration.
- The exhibition features 28 participating brands from 11 Asian countries including India, South Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, and Singapore, strengthening connections between the Asian fragrance community and Europe’s global perfumery network.
ICON’S 26, a temporary gallery dedicated to Asian artistic perfumery, has officially opened at the Musée International de la Parfumerie in Grasse, one of the world’s most historically significant addresses in fragrance. The inauguration brought together approximately 200 fragrance industry stakeholders and international guests, marking the formal launch of an exhibition that places Asian perfumery within the cultural and creative heart of the global fragrance world.
The opening was attended by representatives of the project’s founding partners, the Musée International de la Parfumerie, Cosmoprof, Esxence, and Centdegrés China, alongside institutional representatives including the Mayor of Grasse, participating brand founders, fragrance professionals, and guests from across the international perfume community. The gathering was as much about the relationships it enabled as the exhibition it marked, creating a rare opportunity for Asian fragrance creators to engage directly with the European network of professionals, curators, and industry leaders for whom Grasse is a spiritual home.
The exhibition brings together 28 brands from 11 Asian countries and markets, presenting a diverse and carefully curated cross-section of contemporary artistic perfumery emerging from the region. South Korea and China are the most represented markets within the exhibition, reflecting the significant growth and creative confidence of the niche fragrance communities in both countries over the past decade. Alongside them, brands from Japan, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Singapore, and Thailand contribute to a genuinely pan-Asian perspective on contemporary perfumery, one that encompasses ancient ingredient traditions, modern creative sensibilities, and a growing appetite for personal fragrance as a form of cultural and artistic expression.
India’s inclusion within the exhibition is particularly noteworthy for the domestic fragrance industry. India has one of the world’s oldest and richest fragrance traditions, rooted in the attar culture of cities including Kannauj and a deep relationship with botanical ingredients that have defined perfumery globally for centuries. The presence of Indian brands within ICON’S 26 places that tradition within a contemporary artistic context, creating a dialogue between heritage and innovation that is central to the exhibition’s broader curatorial ambition.
ICON’S 26 is a collaboration between Cosmoprof, Esxence, which organises the international art perfumery event in Milan, and Centdegrés China, the creative agency behind some of the most distinctive fragrance brand identities in the Asian market. The Musée International de la Parfumerie in Grasse, which holds one of the world’s most significant collections dedicated to the history and art of perfumery, provides a context for the exhibition that is both prestigious and deeply appropriate.
For the global fragrance industry, ICON’S 26 arrives at a moment when Asian perfumery is claiming an increasingly prominent place in the international niche and artistic fragrance conversation. The exhibition in Grasse gives that conversation a physical and symbolic home at the very centre of the world’s fragrance heritage, an acknowledgement that the future of artistic perfumery is being shaped as much in Seoul, Shanghai, and Mumbai as it is in Paris or Grasse itself.
