Pitti Fragranze 20 - New Fragrances

Pitti Fragranze 20 (Florence, September 16-18, 2022), the Pitti Immagine show is dedicated to international artistic perfumery. Selection, quality, and newness were keywords of the event taking place at Stazione Leopolda, according to organizers, Two more words that matter: authenticity and uniqueness. Words that were often mentioned during the fair, and this is my list of perfumes matching these keywords.

I’ve enjoyed Pitti Fragranze 20 more than ever this year: I had enough time to attend chosen events and exhibitions (check out my Pitti Report Part I), visit (almost) all brands and stands I planned to, chat, and meet and greet old and new friends. The best part of the fair was, as always – the people of Pitti.

I wish it would remain so, with an even more rigorous approach to quality over quantity.

Some of the brands attending might have raised an eyebrow or two if one should stick strictly to all the words mentioned above (artistic perfumery, authenticity, and uniqueness) but all in all, I love this exhibition, and I’m already looking forward to Pitti Fragrance 2023!

My list of brands/perfumes listed here might not seem long – I didn’t want to talk again about fragrances I shortlisted in my report from Esxence 2022, and tried to focus on ones new, unique, and authentic.

Authenticity. I believe this was the most mentioned word during the fair, at least when I spoke with my colleagues, journalists or bloggers, and perfumers I met at Pitti Fragranze 20 in Stazione Leopolda (I love this place – historically, the first train station in Florence, completed in 1848).

Authenticity, as in philosophy, as congruency of perfume as a product with values and stories a perfume brand is telling, and/or with perfumers themselves, I find it hard to explain, but most of the time it’s that gut feeling of something being fully harmonious – or, on the contrary, when you feel that something in the whole story is “off”. You might not be able to pinpoint what’s exactly wrong, but you FEEL it.

Authenticity in art gets to be an even more complicated subject, depending on which philosopher you tend to click with the most. I rather like to interpret it as a mix of various philosophic definitions, combining elements from the Romantic period (intuition and emotion), JP Sartre (necessity of freedom), Kierkegaard in part of saying that it’s your personal choice to be authentic or not, and Fromm in part that you need to understand your drives and to have informed inner motivation.

Or, it might be said even simpler – instead of defining and explaining the authenticity of artists, let’s define poseurs as those who are talking the talk without walking the walk.

Well, I walked my walk around the stands of Pitti Fragranze 20, enjoyed every moment of it, and here is my choice of the most interesting fragrances, brands that I’d love to explore further, new perfumes, and info about upcoming releases:

New Rose/Tobacco Fragrance (Unnamed Yet) / Antonio Alessandria

I was returning to Antonio’s stand every single day during Pitti Fragranze 20, sometimes multiple times in a day: a fragrance without a name kicked me out of my shoes and made me swoon around, overwhelmed by joy! It is beautiful! It’s been so long since a perfume impressed me as much as this, unnamed creation.

And again, the story behind the fragrance is authentic: it’s an interpretation of love, love that lasted for decades. Antonio Alessandria told me the story of his grandparents’ memories of their first date: he brought her a bouquet of roses, young, a bit insecure, trying to look confident – smoking a cigarette while he handed her sweet-smelling roses, one evening in Sicily. She used to smile and say that the scent of his cigarette spoiled the scent of roses, he always replied that roses were the only thing wrong in the whole picture, but the combination was never forgotten by either.

Irresistible it is, a fusion of a sumptuous, red, thick-petaled, romantic rose, and perfectly balanced tobacco, soft and warm, speaking about love in a way that makes you fall in love.

What a beauty! In every segment of its development, all around, filling my nostrils with emotions, leaving an elegant trail of scent behind me, lush and addictive in its voluptuous beauty. One of the best new releases smelled at Pitti Fragranze 20, if not THE BEST. I’m so excited, I just can’t hide it.

Note: Ermano Picco was involved in the process of making this creation come alive – congrats! It’s a beauty.

M.oldavite Green Light 18:9 / Olivier Durbano

18 years…18 fragrances. Olivier is not releasing countless new fragrances every three months, and his presence in Florence is regular. I was looking forward to meeting him again at Pitti Fragranze 20, as much as getting a chance to smell his new release.

M.oldavite Green Light, inspired by a semi-precious stone is green, from transparent herbal green hues to mossy emerald tones, with a floral heart. It revolves around Angelica, and there’s a fine touch of Absinthe too.

Green, as a symbol of life, renewal, and transformation, expressed in M.oldavite Green Light is indeed luminous, invigorating, and yet spiritual with underlying soft incense and musky depths. It’s different from his previous releases, and yet – it’s Olivier. Definitely. Authentic Durbano. He walks his talk.

Unspoken Musk / Francesca Bianchi

The most awaited new release was announced two weeks before Pitti Frangranze 20, causing a rush of visitors to Francesca Bianchi‘s stand.

An authentic F. Bianchi in its expression, even if it were handed in an unmarked perfume bottle many would immediately know it’s Francesca’s work,

Unspoken Musk (following Libertine Neroli) belongs to the new series of fragrances, each dedicated to a specific cornerstone of perfumery.

Intimate, purring below the surface, with animalic nuances and softly expressed sweetness, oscillating from beauty to beast – contrasting, and yet so easy to wear. More about Unspoken Musk shall follow, accompanied by my interview with Francesca! Soon!

Tilia / Olfactive Pharmacy

Olfactive Pharmacy is a relatively new perfume brand founded in 2022, coming from Cologne, Germany. It was a pleasure to talk to Oliver and Holger Dubben, who were a bit surprised when I told them that quite a few of my colleagues/writers/bloggers recommended their brand.

Their whole story, fragrances, bottles and packaging, materials, and presentation are coherent and authentic. They are pharmacists, own a chain of pharmacies, and they reached out for materials they know very well.

I liked Tilia (Linden, created by Mark Buxton) on the first sniff: all their fragrances are soft-spoken, not overly complicated, but interesting in expression. Tilia is a minimalistic interpretation of a warm cup of the linden tree, the kind your mother brings to you in the morning when you come to visit. Subtly sweet, subtly floral, subtly sweet, with a lemon twist.

The other two fragrances in their current line are Salvia (Sage), and Betula (Birch).

Scottish Odyssey / Jorum Studio

Firewater, Healing Berry, Rose Highland, and Gorseland – although released this Spring, were completely new to me – I didn’t get around to this quartet of marvelous creations.

Euan McCall makes it difficult to choose just one, but since the presentation was exhibited on a distributor’s stand (meaning no samples at all), I had to focus on one – and my first choice at Pitti Fragranze 20 was Healing Berry. Bitter, creamy, sweet, jammy, contrasting with minty, fun, and delicious, this is a very different interpretation of berries – one that.’s – again – authentic McCall. I also liked the role Iris plays in this fragrance, making it cozy and comfortable.

My first impressions of other fragrances in this collection were equally highly satisfactory – these fragrances are beautiful, different, and original! Completely coherent with Pitti Fragranze values stated above.

Note: Couldn’t find a decent photo taken at Pitti Fragranze 20, I was too focused on smelling, and all the photos I have are blurry.

Tendresse D’Automne / TOBBA Perfumes

Not entirely new, released in 2021, Tendress d’Autumne is a perfume of touching beauty. I tried to try Tobba Perfumes and talk to the perfumer – Jasper Lie during Esxence Milan 2022, but every time I passed by their stands, there were too many people already waiting to do the same, so I gave up.

Well, I’m happy that I finally got my nose on Tendresse d’Automne – this is a beautiful nod to Chanel 5, but reborn, fresh, new, and contemporary!

A lovely chypre, emotional and grand, with an abundance of soft yellow flowers and roses. A quite feminine leaning, with a powdery Iris and subtle contrasts.

Moth and Rabbit (Parasite)

I’ve been circling around Moth and Rabbit for some time now, intrigued.

Off we go to Germany, again: founded in Berlin in 2016 by Elke Filpes and Christian Choi, all fragrances are created by Mark Buxton, and some of them felt – somehow different and very intriguing. Weird, to be honest. The main idea behind the Blind Vision line revolves around interpreting films, or scenes from films you might recognize immediately.

I was attracted to Parasite almost immediately: launched in 2020, not a people pleaser for sure – I was aware of that the first time I smelled it. Parasite is…different. It feels minty green, light, watery, and a bit sweet at first. If you’ve watched the movie, all things moving and shifting in this perfume will fall in place.

Most strangely, I found Parasite to be quite addictive.

When I met Buxton in one of the halls of Pitti Fragranze 20, he also told me that a new Moth and Rabbit is coming up soon: the movie inspiration behind the new perfume is Melancholia, so let’s wait and smell. This could be quite interesting, too.

Extras

There were a few Pitti and off-Pitti events in the city during three days of Pitti Fragranze 20 – less than I remember in pre-Covid times, so walking around Florence from the Fair to the city center wasn’t exhausting at all. It was mostly limited to evenings, after the Fair, and I looked forward to it: this city is a beauty I enjoy immersing myself in, every single time.

Weeks before attending the Fair, I exchanged messages with Christopher Draghi of Source Adage: knowing that he and Robert Dobay have moved to Italy, so this was an opportunity to meet at last!

Debuting in Italy, they’ve invited us to visit them in a wonderful Studio Dimore Collection (Via Dei Frassai 41) to smell their new home fragrance – dedicated to Italy. Fig it is, The Legendary Fig. This is a lively and green fig, inspired by wild Italian fig, with soft and worm nuances. Fig-themed fragrances have obviously marked 2022, and I’m happy they did!

I also had a chance to smell and have a peak preview of two perfumes they’ve created since they moved to Italy, launching at the end of this year and named Aka’ula and K’ilei. I’ll do my best to tell you more once these are ready to launch.

I’ve visited many other brands and stands at Pitti Fragranze 20, and some I still need more time to sample, test, and wear in order to finish my selection focusing on artistic perfumery, quality, authenticity, and uniqueness, There’s no rush, and reviews shall follow.

And Florence, Florence is always the most beautiful!