The end of summer brings with it the annual meeting of the artistic fragrance community in Florence, Italy at Pitti Fragranze. This year’s event, which took place from 13 – 15 September, took as its theme The Sound of Fragrance, a concept that brought together perfume and music, two invisible art forms that are expressions of emotions. Is it any wonder that over these days I encountered many passionate individuals who expressed their opinions, their feelings, and their concerns, all before sharing their perfumes with me?

NEW & NOTABLE

The 22nd edition of Pitti Fragranze welcomed 215 brands of which 86 were newcomers. It’s always a challenge to navigate these shows: my pre-show preparation entails reviewing the exhibitor list and visiting the website of every brand I don’t know, in order to come up with an initial short list. Then, when I walk the show, I revise my list, adding and deleting stands, and I always try to at least say hello to the brands I know.

This year, the show was crowded from the minute the doors opened, but I was able to make my way to Kintsugi, an intriguing line inspired by the Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with gold powder glue. The fragrances, created by the Prague based self-taught perfumer, Martin Svach, seek to heal the soul and uplift the body. Among my favorites was Phénix, a woody spicy, gender-neutral release from 2023. We could make the analogy that even if we are imperfect, and we are pieced back together, we are beautiful beings.

Moving on, I made a beeline for Black Fades, a disruptive, industrial looking new brand from Hong Kong. What does this name mean, I asked. Darkness is part of our life, but when darkness fades away, there is light. The brand is focused on functional well-being, on encouraging us to take time for ourselves to nourish the soul. Hong Kong is the inspiration, and being a metropolis full of concrete, the candles themselves are poured into black concrete containers. The scents incorporate culturally relevant ingredients, such as Ming4 where the delicate notes of bergamot and chrysanthemum soothe the soul and encourage a moment of meditation.

At my next stop, Michele Marin Essenza, I had to ask, are we related? And the answer is, it’s quite possible as our families come from the same region of Northern Italy. Family tree aside, it’s the fragrances and the enthusiasm that kept me at the stand. In his own words, L’Essenza is “a collection of emotions distilled and created with care, inspiration and magic.” I was enchanted by E70 Paris-Venise, a cocktail of fruits, petals and spice that forms an olfactory bridge between two magical cities.

In addition to these brands, I also visited a few old friends who are working on new launches beginning with Quentin Dorado of SoraDora. In two short years he has really gained acclaim for his brand from bloggers and influencers around the world, and rightly so. His recent launch Ylop, is a smooth apricot tea fragrance that’s a sunny, sweet skin scent. He takes another direction with the yet to be released Seven, a fresh and modern fougère. In his own words, “ The challenge was to replace the legendary fougère. The fragrance opens with notes of mandarin, followed by an amber heart. It then evolves towards dark, sensual and smoky accords.” Quite honestly, it smelled divine.

Antonio Alessandria is one of the most amazing scent storytellers in the business. He has been inspired by a tale of faith, of a sculptor in 16th century Sicily who is thwarted by rain. The fragrance captures the natural elements to recall the storm and the wood of the sculpture. As yet unnamed, Antonio was conducting a survey: Pluvia Sacra or Rain of Grace? Time will tell when the fragrance comes out later this year.

After Hours

Pitti is also about parties. Several perfumeries hosted after hours launch parties including Profumeria Zhor (for Agatho), Profumeria L’O (for Laurent Mazzone), Campo Marzio (with Harper’s Bazaar) and Olivier Cresp made an appearance at L’Olfattorio. Italian distributor Kaon also hosted an event at Pitti for Ajmal, to welcome the brand to their portfolio. This is the tip of the iceberg, but many events are invitation only.

AROUND TOWN

When coming to Florence, it would be a miss to spend all one’s time inside the show because there is a lot to experience and smell elsewhere. On the eve of the show, I had a full day of meetings and visits, and the morning started off with a bang.

Meeting with the Master: A thought provoking chat

It was a pleasure and an honor to meet once again with brand founder and master perfumer, Lorenzo Villoresi. A true Renaissance man, his knowledge and expertise extends beyond the world of perfumery to include many fields such as art, science and writing. I always know I’ll have a brilliant conversation when I’m here, one that will keep me pondering many points long after I have left.

I was excited to hear that Dott. Villoresi is working on a new fragrance. He told me, “I use the word sparkling to describe it. It’s fresh floral, slightly fruity, not fizzy, but definitely sparkling.” The formula has proven to be a bit of a challenge as just before it was finalized, an ingredient was no longer available, sending the dottore back to the lab. Consequently, our conversation turned to regulatory matters, so I brought up the old argument I’d heard many times : has anyone been fatally harmed by a perfume? Well, there is “a difference between the use and abuse” of certain ingredients.

While it’s pretty unlikely anyone will ever overdose on a fragrance, this topic led our discussion to the difficulty of reworking formulas. We all agree that fragrances evoke memories and emotions, so what happens when a reworked formula doesn’t have the same effect? This can become a disaster and a huge disappointment for the customer. I wondered what other industries are faced with such a predicament? We have emotional ties to music, and for the most part original and cover versions of songs are available to us. We have emotional ties to places we have visited or where we grew up (and certainly, they change with time). We have strong ties to foods and beverages where production may change. I asked, what if ingredients required for producing Coca Cola were being axed by a regulatory board? “Whoever would make such a suggestion would probably encounter serious problems.” Indeed!

In this context, I wanted to know if Dott. Villoresi still enjoys creating fragrances. “When I’m left in peace (laughs)”. It must be vexing to navigate the many different regulations around the world to which fragrance must adhere. And it’s surprising to understand that medicinal regulations for the same ingredient may vary and even be less strict. In this muddle, discoveries have been made. “We discovered that patchouli can grow in Italy, vetiver too. There are many types of roses in Liguria, not typically used in perfumery, but we explore the possibilities”.

Watch this space for future updates on the launch of the new fragrance!

The Hidden Gem

Three years ago I discovered AquaFlor, and from then on, no visit to Florence is complete without a stop in this magical wonderland. Here is artisan fragrance in its apotheosis as explained to me by Zisis Kapsalis, in-house fragrance specialist and nose: “Everything passes in front of a pair of eyes and through a pair of hands. Everything is born here, raised here and delivered to the world from here and it’s what Made in Italy means.” I had the pleasure of discovering several new fragrances including Zephyr, a spicy woody scent with a surprising green mango note, Prelude d’Amour, a glorious bouquet of Florentine Iris, jasmine and rose with a tease of woody notes, Black Tie, the perfect fragrance for a gentleman, and Jasmine, an exquisite rendering of the iconic flower.

Spezierie, Erboristerie, and profumerie

Florence is a tiny jewel: the historic center is just over 500 hectares in size (1,2 acres), and crowded into this space are 72 museums and probably as many perfume shops. Long before Grasse became the hub for fragrance, Florence was the world’s perfume capital during the Renaissance. Among the profumerie, or perfume shops, are those that cater to niche and artistic brands and others that are mainstream. I can confirm that the Profumeria L’O and the Avery Perfume Collection both also have different assortments of artistic brand as well as their own private label fragrance collections made by in-house perfumers. There are also erboristerie or herbalists who normally sell treatments and remedies for natural beauty and health, and spezieri, a term that was used in the 15th and 16th centuries and could probably be translated as apothecary or even pharmacy. The spezierie sometimes had their own garden of herbs and spices where ingredients could be gathered to produce unguents, balms, tinctures and syrups. Both types of shops exist today and tend to sell their own label, such as the world renowned Santa Maria Novella. Some of these places seem legitimate, such as the Spezierie Palazzo Vecchio, created in 1990 by a Florentine pharmacist who immersed himself in the study of plants and phytotherapy, while others are sketchy. I don’t dare name the erboristeria near the Duomo where the salesperson told me they had antique recipes, some of which came from Leonardo da Vinci who had been a cook at a tavern on the corner. Mamma mia – buyer beware! (For more on Leonardo’s story, see the link below).

__________

In a nutshell, Pitti Fragranze was a whirlwind! I had a “short list” of 40 brands to see, and I visited 25 in 2 days. I also attended two workshops: French retailer François Henin who spoke of some of the pillars and people of niche perfumery (Frederic Malle, Roja Dove, Andy Tauer, Geraldine Archambault of Essential Parfums, Stephen Gray, Andy Tauer and so many more) and I caught the interview with master perfumer Olivier Cresp. With nearly 1700 visitors this year (and evidenced by the busy booths) Pitti Fragranze welcomed 5% more visitors than in 2023.

For more information:

Sora Dora

https://www.essencional.com/en/posts/sora-doras-quentin-dorado-perfume-is-emotion-in-a-bottle/

Antonio Alessandria

https://www.essencional.com/it/posts/for-antonio-alessandria-perfume-is-a-memory-an-emotion-a-dream/

Lorenzo Villoresi

https://www.essencional.com/en/posts/lorenzo-villoresi-a-living-treasure/

Museo Lorenzo Villoresi

https://www.essencional.com/en/posts/museo-lorenzo-villoresi-the-art-of-perfume/

AquaFlor

https://www.essencional.com/en/posts/aquaflor-paradise-in-florence-for-the-fragrance-lover/

Leonardo da Vinci, Perfumer?

https://www.essencional.com/en/posts/leonardo-da-vinci-the-story-behind-his-link-with-perfumery/