Three artists, three free spirits, one vision. At the turn of the Sixties, at a time of tremendous excitement and optimism marked by a strong desire for modernity, Desmond Knox-Leet, Christiane Montadre-Gautrot and Yves Coueslant invented a new kind of space; a space made in their image; a celebration of the senses; a tribute to daring, where their creativity shone alongside objects sourced from around the world. Bound by a sense of beauty, a love of nature, and an insatiable curiosity, the three friends brought Diptyque to vivid life.

Part artist's studio, part cabinet of curiosities, Diptyque opened in Paris’s 5th arrondissement, a bohemian haven where heritage merged with modernity. At 34 boulevard Saint-Germain, the three friends became ""purveyors of trifles"". Over the course of their encounters and travels, they unearthed antiques, decorated and refashioned exotic and everyday objects, and filled the shelves of this concept store ahead of its time.

Paris, 1949. The story begins. Desmond is a painter, a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts, the Paris school of fine arts. Christiane is an interior architect, trained at the French national school of decorative arts, the Arts décoratifs. One is an accomplished artist; the other has a passion for craftsmanship. Each is the mirror image of the other. Their inevitable friendship is shaped by memories of Desmond’s summers in the South of France, and Christiane’s childhood garden on the fringes of Fontainebleau. With taste and discernment, they work together to create designs for upholstery fabrics sold at Liberty and Sanderson in London.

A decade later, by a twist of fate, they cross paths with Yves Coueslant. This globe-trotting son of a banker raised in Indochina (present-day Vietnam) establishes an immediate rapport with Christiane and Desmond, himself heir to a British noble family. Together, they make an inseparable trio of friends. And from this encounter springs a creative ambition – the dream of founding their own Maison.

Diptyque is rooted in a shared passion for nature, authenticity and truth. Wild, lively and colourful, nature guided the founding trio to create their first scents. A nature teeming with essences and materials, it recalls the landscapes prized by the three friends for their restorative qualities.

Travel also broadened their horizons. Their wanderings led them from Europe to Asia, and from Venice to Moscow, and they followed in the footsteps of the ancient Greeks on dreamlike journeys. Their passion for travel and fascination for distant lands furnished them with memories they would later translate into fragrances and drawings. These recollections are the Maison’s primary source of inspiration.

Drawing on their shared passion for the graphic arts, the trio also created a playful and subtle new language. Graphic design was now a medium for expression; a gateway to the world of Diptyque. The Maison’s founders sought to strike an artful balance between images and words, black and white and colour, motif and figurative drawing. An iconic visual code comprising the oval, the fragrance burner and a host of dancing letters, like riddles to decipher, became part of the essence of the Maison’s identity.