Maison Crivelli.
We’re so used to seeing most fragrance houses treating musk as a polite finish – the olfactory equivalent of a well-pressed white shirt. Maison Crivelli, however, has never been interested in the predictable. Since its founding in 2018, the Paris-based house has built a reputation for olfactory shocks, where Thibaud Crivelli translates his own chaotic, vivid memories into scents that capture both the intellect and the gut. Now, the brand is pivoting its gaze towards one of the most intimate ingredients in a perfumer’s kit, launching ‘Musc Nurāsana’ as the first milestone in a new sub-collection of the ‘Olfactory Escapes’ series.
The Olfactory Escapes concept is a deliberate deep dive into a single emblematic material. Following a successful run with oud, Crivelli is now focusing on the “infinite world” of musk, but he isn’t looking for the powdery, clean skin scents that have dominated the market for decades. Instead, he wanted to capture the physical sensation of vitality.
The spark for Musc Nurāsana wasn’t a laboratory discovery, but a 6:26 a.m. yoga session on a coral-hued terrace. “This moment of quiet awakening, when the body stirs before the world fully comes to life, became the emotional starting point for the perfume,” says Thibaud. To translate this ‘chiaroscuro’ morning into a bottle, Thibaud reunited with perfumer Gaël Montero, the nose behind the house’s earlier hit, ‘Safran Secret.’ Their dynamic is unlike anything one could expect from a fragrance house, venturing straight into a sensorial wandering.
Maison Crivelli., Lukasz Pukowiec.
Deriving its title from the Arabic word for light and the Sanskrit term for posture, the fragrance anchors the body in the present while encouraging a sense of elevation. Montero explains that the brief was abstract, focused more on the tension of a first breath than a specific scent profile. “The name guided the construction of the fragrance from the very beginning. ‘Nur’ inspired me to focus on clarity, energy and elevation. ‘Āsana’ refers to alignment and inner balance, which I translated into a structured, vertical evolution on the skin. I wanted the fragrance to feel both weightless and grounded.”
And he succeeds in that mission: Montero treated musk as a living, radiant entity, resulting in a vegan extrait de parfum with a staggering 32% concentration. It opens with a jolt of Italian bergamot and ginger CO2 extract – ingredients that mimic the luminous vibration of dawn. But the real contrast happens in the heart, where dry, coiling incense meets a mineral-inflected Damask rose. “Balance was key. Each ingredient had to support the others without dominating,” he explains. “Bergamot brings an immediate brightness, incense introduces movement and clarity, rose adds structure and tonka bean provides soft, anchoring warmth.”
For the wearer, the scent lingers over the skin like soft breezes. The base is anchored by the honeyed texture of tonka bean absolute and the earthy, grounded depth of Spanish cistus. It is a “gentle energy,” as Montero describes it, designed for people who seek clarity without the usual heavy, woody baggage.
Maison Crivelli.
True to the Maison Crivelli ethos, ‘Musc Nurāsana’ is also an invitation to experiment with layering – a practice Thibaud views as an intimate, rule-free playground. Because this musk is so vertical and translucent, it can fundamentally shift the architecture of the Maison’s existing scents. You can pair it with ‘Santal Volcanique’ for an addictive tension of sandalwood and coffee or with ‘Rose Saltifolia’ to let a salty, marine freshness breeze through the musk’s petals.
The object itself mirrors this obsession with texture and light. The bottle is rendered in a dusky, rose-coloured glass – a direct reference to the still-warm stone and crinkled petals of Thibaud’s memory. It is capped with the signature metallic grey, held in a silver box that plays with light and shadow like a micro-architecture.
Maison Crivelli is interested in changing how we perceive intimacy in scent. For Thibaud, it’s about moving beyond the whisper and leaning into full-on intensity: “Musk is much more than just a perfume ingredient – it is an infinite world to explore. The artistic expression of a feeling that leaves no one indifferent, because it resonates on an intimate level.”
In Berlin, Maison Crivelli brought this universe to KaDeWe until 11 May, inviting visitors to step into the luminous vitality of dawn in the middle of the city. For a few, the experience went deeper at a private launch at the Reethaus. The evening was split into two olfactory sessions to maintain a consciously intimate atmosphere, where the air was dipped in a soft pink light to mimic the exact moment before sunrise when shadows disappear.
As the first chapter of a new musk-centric odyssey, ‘Musc Nurāsana’ suggests that the founding adventure of Maison Crivelli is only getting more personal.
‘Musc Nurāsana’ is now available worldwide online and at select boutiques. Discover more here.
photography. courtesy of Maison Crivelli, Lukasz Pukowiec
words. Gennaro Costanzo
