Maison Close becomes SCANDALE: a new name, two French histories

Since July 2026, Maison Close has officially been called SCANDALE. The change brings together two separate chapters in the history of French lingerie. Maison Close was founded in Marseille in 2006 by designer Nicolas Busnel, while the SCANDALE name has been known in France since 1932. That was when Robert Perrier began creating lingerie that would not restrain the body the way the rigid corsets of the time did.

Under its new name, Maison Close continues its work while inheriting the historic SCANDALE legacy. The name changes, but Nicolas Busnel’s creative direction and distinctive view of the female body remain. Collections marked with the Maison Close name will now recall an earlier chapter in the creative life of this French lingerie house.

Nicolas Busnel: from first sketches to a signature style

Maison Close began modestly. Nicolas Busnel first designed accessories and small lingerie collections. Over time his ideas grew into a distinctive creative direction in which every line matters, along with the transparency of the fabric and the way a garment looks in motion.

Hosiery has held a special place in the designer’s work from the start. Suspender stockings with high tops, sheer nylon stockings with a back seam and garter belts became striking details of the collections. Later came sheer bodysuits, in which one can sense the influence of cinema, comics and stage costumes. In Busnel’s work lingerie is not necessarily hidden under clothes. Sometimes it is exactly what sets the mood of the whole look.

The story of SCANDALE: from the constraint of the corset to freedom of the body

In the 1930s, Robert Perrier, the creator of SCANDALE, was looking for new ways to make lingerie. Experimenting with liquid latex, he created elastic materials that helped change the established construction of corsets. SCANDALE also became known for its advertising, to which the renowned French illustrator René Gruau contributed.

In Maison Close’s work, freedom of the body takes a different form. Here we rarely see an abundance of romantic ornament. The designer chooses clean lines, thin straps, lace, tulle and sheer fabrics. In some places a restrained cut accentuates the body’s lines, in others the eye is caught by an unexpectedly bare patch of skin. Such sexy lingerie does not reveal everything at once. It leaves room for intuition and imagination.

Pure Tentation, Corps à Corps and other Maison Close collections

Maison Close collections have distinctive names and character. Pure Tentation is marked by subtle transparency and clean lines, Corps à Corps draws the eye with straps that wrap the body, and Tapage Nocturne stands out with jewellery-like details. Accroche Coeur, Double Sens, Les Fetiches, Le Petit Secret and Chambre Noire reveal other themes of seduction favoured by the designer.

The collections include a variety of lingerie, from suspender stockings and tights to corsets and sheer bodysuits. Some pieces accentuate the contours of the body, others focus on a lace pattern, the transparency of the fabric or a barely noticeable detail. It is this balance of restraint and daring that gives Maison Close, now SCANDALE, its recognisable character. Sometimes a single line is enough to make a glance linger.