Alex Simone

Alex Simone is a niche perfume house based in Monte Carlo, Monaco, building its identity around the elegance and imagery of the city and the wider French Riviera. It was founded by Eric Rousseau, who named the house after his grandparents, Alex and Simone, and drew on childhood memories of the scents that filled their home. Editorial sources place the founding in 2016 [9], while Fragrantica dates the brand to 2017 and notes that its earliest fragrance edition appeared that year [11] — a discrepancy most plausibly explained by the company being established in 2016 and its first perfume released the following year.

The house operates as Alex Simone Sarl, a limited liability company registered in Monaco, with an address on rue Ténao in Monte Carlo [4]. In 2025 it changed hands and relaunched with an entirely new line-up, discontinuing its earlier fragrances [11]. The brand remains active, with blog content published as recently as May 2026.

According to Fragrantica, founder Eric Rousseau is based in Monaco and was inspired by the fragrances that pervaded his grandparents' family home [12]. The name pairs his grandfather Alex with his grandmother Simone. On its own about page, the company describes the couple as "a prominent couple from Monte Carlo" who "owned a glasshouse in this magical city in the era of sartorial greatness" and tended gardens of carefully selected flora. That family story, rooted in a specific place and generation, became the brand's central reference point, expressed in the tagline "Born to be Monégasque."

The earliest reporting on the house comes from a 2021 editorial feature, which describes a Monte Carlo perfumer working with a Riviera-inspired catalogue that then included En Terrasse, Tellement Bleu and Villa Simone [9]. In this period the fragrances were produced in the hills above Grasse in collaboration with Art et Parfum, the house associated with the perfumer Edmond Roudnitska, who created Diorissimo and Femme.

The brand's most significant shift came in 2025. At the Esxence niche-fragrance fair in Milan (held 19–22 February), it announced a change of ownership and a refreshed direction, retaining its minimalist bottle design while leaning more explicitly into Monaco's imagery [11]. All previous editions were discontinued and replaced by twelve new fragrances spread across two collections, the Monaco Collection and the Monte Carlo Collection [11]. The earlier catalogue documented by retailers — names such as Villa Simone, Après Vous and Encore un Peu — dates from before this relaunch.

Alex Simone is structured as a Monaco-registered SARL; its legal statement names no parent company and does not identify individual owners. The 2025 ownership change was reported by Fragrantica, but the coverage did not name the new owners [11], and no other source consulted identifies them. The brand's ownership beyond the corporate entity is therefore not publicly documented.

The house positions itself as a luxury niche perfumer drawing on what it calls Monégasque elegance and Riviera sophistication. It frames its outlook around three stated values: respect for Monte Carlo's heritage, sincerity in the idea that "good things take time," and a commitment to quality through French craftsmanship. The second of these points to a production method the brand calls a "Slow-Friendly" approach, involving a two-month maturation and maceration of its fragrances. Editorial coverage has echoed this framing, grouping the house with slow-beauty and French Riviera luxury themes.

Alex Simone makes fragrance exclusively. Since the 2025 relaunch, its range has been organised into the Monaco Collection and the Monte Carlo Collection, with current best-sellers including Brise Marine, Carré d'Or, Le Sunset, Sous Le Charme and Inoubliable [11]. The compositions lean on materials common to French perfumery — jasmine, neroli and rose in the heart, and bases built from amber, cedarwood, tonka, vanilla, oud and sandalwood. Brise Marine, for example, is described as a citrus-and-woody scent evoking a morning by the sea, while Carré d'Or is an oriental-spicy fragrance referencing one of Monte Carlo's districts.

The fragrances are made in Grasse, at a site the company says was once the residence of Edmond Roudnitska and is now run by Accords et Parfums [3]. The brand says it works with noble raw materials and minimises additives to keep its perfumes as natural as possible. Fragrantica records that the fragrances were composed in collaboration with the perfumers Jean Denis Saisse and Bertrand Duchaufour, the latter a well-known figure in niche perfumery [12].

In its earlier period the house described its products as "made from living natural materials without any UV filter or dye and without animal testing," and reported sponsoring 150 lemon trees at the Maison du Citron domain [9]. Its sustainability framing centres on slow production, restrained use of additives and sourcing of raw materials in France. The packet records no formal certifications for the brand.

Coverage of Alex Simone has come mainly from specialist fragrance and lifestyle outlets rather than mainstream press. The Gourmet Gazette profiled the house and its founder in 2021 [9], Fragrantica covered the 2025 relaunch in detail [11], and The Céline Edit described its output as "refined, elegant, and contemporary fragrances to celebrate the understated luxury, charm, and glamour of the Principality." No awards are recorded in the available sources.

The brand is active. It sells directly through its own website and through a range of third-party retailers, and its blog carried new posts as recently as May 2026. Its 2025 relaunch, broad European and online distribution and worldwide shipping point to a multi-region, niche-luxury operation rather than a mass-market one.