d'Annam

d'Annam is a niche fine-fragrance house rooted in Vietnam, founded in 2023 by Nick Hoang [8]. The brand builds its perfumes around the everyday scents of Vietnamese life and wider Asian culture, working with the Vietnamese perfumer Anh Ngo of IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances) [8]. Its name combines the French preposition d' with "An" (peace) and "Nam" (a reference to Vietnam), and also reads simply as "from Vietnam".

The house was established in Hanoi, where Hoang launched it; he later settled in Ho Chi Minh City, where editorial coverage places him today [8]. The brand's website lists a New York City mailing address (228 Park Avenue South), reflecting a bicultural setup in which the corporate listing sits in the United States while creative direction, perfumery and the founder are based in Vietnam [2].

d'Annam is the project of Nick Hoang, who serves as its creative director. According to a founder interview with the niche retailer Ministry of Scent, the idea grew out of homesickness: living abroad in New York, Hoang missed the scents of his rural Vietnamese childhood, and became interested in fragrance through his wife's enthusiasm for niche perfumery [8]. He set out to make perfumes that could carry those memories — describing inspirations such as "lotus blossoms that graced our serene lakes" and "the bitterness of lime leaves in my grandma's garden".

Rather than commission an established name, Hoang sought out a Vietnamese perfumer and took a chance on Anh Ngo, then still a trainee at IFF [8]. The two, with IFF, developed the brand's first nine scents. In a later journal note, Hoang explained the name through its Vietnamese parts — "An" for peace and serenity, "Nam" for the country — while acknowledging that Annam was also the historic colonial-era designation for central and northern Vietnam [7].

d'Annam released its debut collection, Chapter 1: Enchanting Vietnam, in 2023, a set of nine fragrances tied to Vietnamese places, foods and traditions — among them White Rice, Vietnamese Coffee, Through the Forest and In the Garden. A second collection, Chapter 2: Memories of Japan, followed and added perfumes such as Matcha Soft Serve, Sakura Snow and Hinoki Meditation, with creative direction from Kazuki Yamamoto alongside Hoang. A third, Chapter 3: Majestic China, extended the house's pan-Asian theme.

The company presents itself as "a fine fragrance house from Vietnam" whose perfumes are "rooted in the rich tapestry of Asian culture" and intended to "inspire calmness and delight" [2]. It frames its work around three stated values — calmness, delight and respect — and says its fragrances "are not loud, but speak with a clear point of view". The house positions itself in the niche segment, with a storytelling approach that ties each scent to a specific memory or cultural reference.

d'Annam's perfumes are organised into themed "chapters" and draw on ingredients and motifs such as jasmine rice, Vietnamese green tea, oud, dark-roasted Robusta coffee, matcha, cherry blossom and hinoki cypress. The brand says its fragrances are "meticulously hand-crafted in small batches" using natural ingredients sourced internationally [2]. Vietnamese Coffee, built on dark-roasted Robusta, drew viral attention on TikTok and surfaced on Google Trends ahead of wider press coverage [10].

On sustainability, the company states that its packaging is "100% recyclable" and that it chooses recycled materials and works to eliminate plastic where possible [2]. It also says it directs a share of annual earnings to children's charities in Vietnam, including programs supporting children with cancer in Hanoi and an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City [8].

In 2025, the fragrance Matcha Soft Serve received an Honorable Mention in the Independent category at the Art and Olfaction Awards, an industry prize run by the Institute for Art and Olfaction [11]. The same year, Who What Wear published an editorial review of the Enchanting Vietnam collection, singling out Vietnamese Coffee and White Rice and noting both the brand's TikTok traction and its charitable component [10].

d'Annam is an active, independent house. It maintains a direct online shop and is stocked by niche-perfumery boutiques across Europe, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region, including Jovoy Paris, Luckyscent and Ministry of Scent. Its journal showed continued activity into 2026, with posts dated February and May of that year [4].