The House · 2025

Three Years of R Parfums at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu

Published: 2 July 2025
Language: English
Reading time: 3 min

Read this piece in Vietnamese: Đọc bằng tiếng Việt

First published on 2 July 2025, kept as it was written.

Since then:

The post mentions a single showroom; R Parfums now has three houses, all in Ho Chi Minh City: 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu, 42 Nguyễn Huệ and 26 Lý Tự Trọng.

Thumbnail: R Parfums showroom display with arched glass windows, shelved bottles and warmly lit glass cases

R Parfums - A Curated Presence in the Heart of Thảo Điền

This July marks the third anniversary of R Parfums’ showroom at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu. Nestled in a quiet neighborhood of Thảo Điền—where life moves just slow enough to be felt—the space continues to open its doors daily to those seeking scent as an artistic and deeply personal experience. From the very beginning, the showroom was never intended to be a traditional boutique. It was envisioned as a setting where scent—ephemeral by nature—could exist within a context that is quiet, intentional, and thoughtfully curated.

R PARFUMS carved into a plaster wall above five bottles under glass cloches on a wooden console, beside a ceramic vase · Thumbnail: glass display cases, a potted plant and a wood-railed staircase inside the R Parfums showroom

R PARFUMS carved into a plaster wall above five bottles under glass cloches on a wooden console, beside a ceramic vase · Thumbnail: glass display cases, a potted plant and a wood-railed staircase inside the R Parfums showroom

Staying True While Refining Every Encounter At R Parfums

Since its opening, the Nguyễn Duy Hiệu showroom has operated beyond the bounds of conventional retail. It is a space centered around individual sensibility, where every touchpoint is guided with subtlety and care. For three years, this direction has remained intact: no chasing trends, no loud gestures, no commercialized experiences. Yet within this stability, R Parfums has continuously refined—from how scents are introduced, to how each visitor is received, to the narrative behind every olfactory creation. Each passing year brings quiet refinement—not change for its own sake, but a deeper, more nuanced experience. Because identity is not about staying static—it’s about holding onto the essence while elevating every delicate moment of encounter.

Courtyard at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu: brass R emblem on a white wall, tropical plants, bougainvillea and patterned tiles

Olfactory Milestones Along the Way

The Nguyễn Duy Hiệu space has been more than just a place for showcasing products. It has served as a site of origin for a series of scent-driven, curated experiences—where fragrance is explored through unexpected and thoughtful lenses.

Pluviophile – The Rain Lover

A scent exhibition by R Parfums' in-house perfumer Rei Nguyễn, held from July 19 to July 31, 2024. The installation explored the inner world of those who love rain—through earthy, humid, nostalgic scent compositions evoking Saigon’s rainy season.

Letter to 221B Baker Street: Scent of Shadow

Held from December 6 to 15, 2024, this olfactory exhibition combined storytelling and fragrance artistry, guiding participants through a scent-based mystery journey inspired by Sherlock Holmes.

A Batch of Tasting Notes

A sensorial installation that approached fragrance through an aesthetic context—bridging scent with the art of living, in a space where visual and olfactory perception intertwined.

A visitor, arms crossed, gazes up through rain-like hanging threads and glass drops at the showroom exhibition · Glass droplets suspended among rain-like threads in violet light, with botanical projections, at Pluviophile · A copper mesh sculpture amid hundreds of hanging pages in warm light at Letter to 221B Baker Street · A visitor reads among densely hung letters at the exhibition Letter to 221B Baker Street: Scent of Shadow · Window shelves with a perfume bottle, gift boxes, spirits, flowers and paper bags at A Batch of Tasting Notes · Showroom hall at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu: linen panels overhead, arched doors, glass display cases and a lit stone staircase

A visitor, arms crossed, gazes up through rain-like hanging threads and glass drops at the showroom exhibition · Glass droplets suspended among rain-like threads in violet light, with botanical projections, at Pluviophile · A copper mesh sculpture amid hundreds of hanging pages in warm light at Letter to 221B Baker Street · A visitor reads among densely hung letters at the exhibition Letter to 221B Baker Street: Scent of Shadow · Window shelves with a perfume bottle, gift boxes, spirits, flowers and paper bags at A Batch of Tasting Notes · Showroom hall at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu: linen panels overhead, arched doors, glass display cases and a lit stone staircase

All experiences were hosted with an intentionally limited audience—quietly conducted, yet deeply resonant for the community of scent lovers.

Three Years — and Subtle Evolutions

Glass room of the R Parfums showroom looking onto cascading green vines in natural light

This space doesn’t chase visual trends or surface-level novelty. But over the course of three years, every element has been deliberately enhanced—not for immediate effect, but to further articulate the quiet clarity and aesthetic language of R Parfums. A glass enclosure was added at the entrance, welcoming natural light and gently extending the experience of scent discovery. Greenery was thoughtfully arranged—not to overwhelm, but to soften the air, set a rhythm, and create a grounded sense of presence. This bright, open, and verdant atmosphere is not merely visual staging. It’s an extension of how R Parfums shapes olfactory experiences: calm, contemplative, and in tune with nature—a place where scent can be received slowly, sincerely. Stability here does not mean stillness. It’s an ongoing process of curation and refinement—so that with each return, one encounters R again, but with a new layer of familiarity: lighter, deeper, more intimate.

R Parfums - A Space for Those Who Know How to Listen

Three years is long enough to reflect—to know what must be preserved, and what deserves quiet renewal. The showroom at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu remains—warm, fragrant, and reserved for those who are open enough, and perceptive enough, to truly listen.