How a Parisian Tattoo Artist Interpreted Envol - Écrit et Parfum’s Korean literature Inspired Niche Fragrance

Artist collaborations in niche perfumery are rare, and rarer still when the brief is not to describe a scent, but to feel it.

That is exactly what Écrit et Parfum asked of Maxime Grehier, Parisian tattoo artist, painter, and founder of collective studio Rayon Noir, when presenting Envol: a Korean-inspired niche fragrance rooted in the literary world of Yi Sang.

This is how a fragrance becomes a visual language. 

Maxime Grehier: Twelve Years of Precision Between Ink and Architecture

Maxime Grehier’s artistic practice is defined by a single discipline applied across multiple media: geometric precision, developed over twelve years and rooted in his training at École Boulle, one of France’s most demanding schools of applied arts. His work spans contemporary tattooing, painting, woodcraft, and sculpture, all unified by the same mastery of line, contrast, and negative space. It is this sensitivity to weight and emptiness that made him a natural collaborator for Écrit et Parfum’s Envol.

“My journey began at École Boulle, where I studied cabinetmaking. It was there that I developed the geometric drawing style that remains central to my work today, visible in both my tattoos and my canvases.”

This command of contrast between presence and absence, between fine line and bold stroke, mirrors the olfactory character of Envol: a fragrance that speaks of lightness while leaving a lasting sillage.

Rayon Noir: A Parisian Studio Where Disciplines Converge

Rayon Noir is the collective studio founded by Maxime Grehier in Paris four years ago,  a space that operates as both professional tattoo studio and personal creative atelier. Under one roof, Grehier pursues tattooing, oil painting, sculpture, and woodwork, guided by the conviction that creative practice should remain fluid and cross-disciplinary.

It was at Rayon Noir that Écrit et Parfum chose to begin the collaboration, presenting Envol on Grehier’s own creative ground. The studio’s aesthetic reflects its founder: geometric, precise, and quietly immersive. Beyond its walls, Grehier’s Parisian inspirations include the 13th arrondissement around the François Mitterrand Library,  modern without corporate coldness, and the Bourse de Commerce, renovated by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, which he describes as offering “something profoundly soothing” at its center.

Envol: Eau de Parfum Rooted in Korean Literary Heritage

Envol is an eau de parfum by Écrit et Parfum, a Korean niche fragrance house founded on the principle that works of Korean literature can be experienced through scent. The fragrance draws directly from The Wings (날개) by Yi Sang,  a landmark Korean modernist novella from the 1930s that explores weightlessness, inner drift, and the liberating quality of empty space. Yi Sang was also a trained architect, and this dual identity, writer and builder of form, runs through both the fragrance’s olfactory composition and Maxime Grehier’s visual interpretation.

Grehier’s first encounter with Envol was instinctive and immediate:

“The fragrance evokes something remarkably fresh, the essence of the refined Parisian quarters, the sillage of people who carry themselves with care. It is deeply elegant.”

He also connected Envol to a childhood memory of his mother’s perfume: crisp, clean, timeless. This quality of quiet, enduring refinement is at the heart of what Korean niche perfumery, at its most considered, is capable of producing for a European audience attuned to understated luxury.

From Fragrance to Form: Maxime Grehier’s Creative Process

Translating a fragrance into visual form is the process of identifying a scent’s sensory qualities, lightness, depth, movement, longevity,  and transposing them into a plastic language of line, contrast, and negative space. For his collaboration with Écrit et Parfum on Envol, Maxime Grehier spent several days immersed in the fragrance’s sillage and in close reading of Yi Sang’s The Wings before beginning his composition.

His approach followed three distinct principles:

1.Yi Sang’s architectural forms: as a trained architect, Yi Sang’s writing carries a structural geometry that Grehier translated directly into visual composition: raw, pure forms that feel substantial yet weightless.

2.Fine line vs. bold stroke: the core contrast technique in Grehier’s tattooing practice: balancing delicate lines against heavy marks to create depth, nuance, and visual longevity.

3.Emptiness as material: capturing the lightness and spatial openness that define both Yi Sang’s literary world and the airy, fresh olfactory notes of Envol.

“In his literature, Yi Sang spoke often of lightness, emptiness, and space. These are the exact qualities I aimed to capture in my visual interpretation of Envol.”

Discover Envol, the Korean literary fragrance

Summary: Envol by Écrit et Parfum × Maxime Grehier Collaboration

• What is Envol by Écrit et Parfum? 

Envol is an eau de parfum by Korean fragrance house Écrit et Parfum, inspired by The Wings (날개) by Yi Sang, a seminal Korean modernist novella from the 1930s. The fragrance develops olfactory notes of freshness, lightness, and refined elegance, rooted in Korean literary heritage.

• Who is Maxime Grehier?

Maxime Grehier is a Parisian tattoo artist, painter, and sculptor, and the founder of collective studio Rayon Noir in Paris. Trained in cabinetmaking at École Boulle, he has developed a twelve-year practice built on geometric precision and the interplay of fine and bold mark-making across tattooing, painting, and sculpture.

• Why does Écrit et Parfum collaborate with visual artists?

Écrit et Parfum was founded on the principle that Korean literature can be experienced through scent. Artist collaborations extend this vision by inviting external creative perspectives to reveal dimensions of each fragrance that words alone cannot fully capture.

• What makes Écrit et Parfum a niche fragrance house?

Niche perfumery is defined by the use of high-quality raw materials, limited production, and a distinctive creative identity that operates outside mass-market commercial logic. Écrit et Parfum distinguishes itself further by grounding each fragrance in Korean literary heritage, a rare positioning within the European niche fragrance market.

• Where can I buy Envol by Écrit et Parfum?

Envol is available directly through the Écrit et Parfum online store at ecritetparfum.com

Envol by Écrit et Parfum