When one is the scion of a family synonymous with refined perfume and elegant couture, rebellion can take pretty interesting forms.

For Romano Ricci (above), 30, the great-grandson of Parisian couturier Nina Ricci, striking his own path first involved a need for speed.

In his salad days, the debonair Ricci tells Urban he was more into racing cars than learning the ropes of the
family business. This was despite a close relationship with grandfather Robert, who was responsible for
launching the iconic scent L’Air Du Temps in 1948.

“I didn’t want to work with my family. I wanted to learn my own way,” he says when he first started sniffing around the idea of becoming a perfumer.

He was confident that he could hold his own because, as he puts it, “my entourage is inspired by my tastes and opinions”. (Yes, he is the kind of guy who uses the phrase “my entourage” earnestly. With his fedora and too-cool-for-school swagger, he embodies the caricature of a charming dandy to an almost-amusing degree.)

So, he spent six years at a small French fragrance company learning about the industry before launching niche brand Juliette Has A Gun in 2005.

The brand has released three scents to date, all rose-based fragrances inspired by the heroine of Shakespearean classic Romeo And Juliet. The light and flirty Miss Charming sees Juliet as a docile innocent, while the musky Lady Vengeance is Juliet as a sophisticated seductress.

The latest release, an edgy chypre called Citizen Queen (inset), is Juliet as a confident urbanite, or “Juliet gone wild in the 21st century”, as he puts it.

He is not interested in creating bland crowd-pleasers favoured by major perfume houses – including the one that bears his family name.

The Nina Ricci brand is now owned by Spanish fashion and beauty conglomerate Puig.

“I’d love to be part of the brand,” he says. But he doesn’t think there will be an invitation any time soon.

“Once they let mein... it will be very difficult for them to impose what they want. I’m sick of the usual floral-fruity scents.”

His scents are now sold in 40 countries – no small feat for a niche brand.

“This is not a mass-market brand. I am voluntarily niche.”

Juliette Has A Gun scents are available at Robinsons Raffles.

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.