Born into a perfume heritage, Jean Desprez had as his grandfather Felix Millot, founder of Parfums Millot. Whilst working for the company he created his first perfume "Crepe de Chine" in 1925. He then decided to part with the company and established his own company at Rue de la Paix in Paris.

To package his creations he enlisted the expertise of Paul Mergier and to design the bottles he partnered with Leon Leyritz.

The company was then taken over by his son Denis Desprez who took the position of managing director whilst his sister Marie-Celine Grenier worked as the perfumer.