When a city becomes perfume: the soul of Nancy captured by Mina Gautier

What if a city could be worn like a jewel? What if its squares, its gilding, its gardens, its memories became a fragrance? This is the artistic challenge that Mina Gautier took up by creating Parfum Nancy, an olfactory work born in 2022 from a unique partnership with the city's Tourist Office.

A city as raw material

Designing a bespoke fragrance for a city means exploring far beyond notes and essences. For Nancy, Mina Gautier immersed herself in the history of the ducal city, its Art Nouveau and Art Deco architectural masterpieces, its UNESCO World Heritage-listed squares, and its rich and refined Lorraine heritage.

But she also allowed herself to be carried away by emotion and by this intimate connection, woven over decades spent immersing herself in the streets, the lights, and the unique atmosphere of the city. By the golden light on the railings of Place Stanislas, by the wind in the paths of the Pépinière park, by the bursts of conversation in the cafés. Architecture becomes structure, culture becomes a legacy, the soul becomes essence.

A fragrance that radiates beyond borders

Conceived as a sensory souvenir, the Nancy Perfume is now sold at the Tourist Office. It appeals to visitors from all over the world, eager to take a piece of the city home with them – more than just an object, it's a feeling.

This fragrance has also been presented to prestigious figures, such as Christiane Taubira and Guillaume Gallienne, presidents of the literary festival Le Livre sur la Place . A subtle way to showcase Nancy's elegance through the senses.

Towards a geography of emotions

The Nancy fragrance is more than just a perfume. It's a declaration of love for a city, an artistic manifesto, an act of passing on a legacy. With it, Minalys reaffirms its mission: to transform places into emotions, and emotions into perfumes.

This project opened the way to a new creative territory for Maison Minalys: creating perfumes for places. A country, a monument, a city… each place possesses an emotional signature that Mina Gautier knows how to capture, translate, and enhance.

Each place tells a story, and Minalys offers it, in perfume.