Pitti Fragranze 2025 main hall September 12-14, 2025

The entry square of the ancient Leopolda Station was already alive with vibration — long before hitting the booths — like a Formula One car warming its engine, a babel of languages mingling with the crackle of empty bags, the rasp of zippers and the wheels of hand luggage rattling over the uneven cobblestones. This was no small gathering: Pitti Fragranze 2025, the twenty-third edition had drawn nearly 2,200 buyers from more than 50 countries, a 32 percent increase on last year, and 258 brands, 3/4 of them international (110 debuts or returns), turning Florence’s former station into a global salon of scent.

For me it was roughly the twentieth I have attended, enough to dare, perhaps, to call myself a veteran. After so many editions I have learned the rhythms of this salon: you glimpse a new olfactory trend one season and by the next you already see it shifting or solidifying, a sign of how this ever-changing industry keeps accelerating. And yet as I crossed the threshold this year I felt something I hadn’t felt in a while, a renewed focus, a shimmer of optimism, exhibitors speaking of courage and pluck instead of survival. Pitti Immagine CEO Raffaello Napoleone put it similarly: “In these three days we all perceived a special and energetic atmosphere… expectations were more than satisfied.”

Perris Montecarlo Balsamir at Pitti Fragranze 2025

Coming from Santa Maria Novella Station on my way to the Leopolda Station, I first stopped at the elegant Hotel Villa Medici, where Perris Montecarlo, as is their custom, was holding their off-show presentation. Their new Balsamir unfurls, as the name itself predicts, around myrrh, magnifying all its facets, from the metallic opening made sparkling with hints of pink peppercorns, to the maple syrup sweetness enriched by winey davana and opoponax, passing by the aromatic warmth of labdanum and fir balsam making it sumptuously balsamic, yet somehow airy thanks to a whisper of mandarin. Myrrh is my favourite resin; this goes straight into my cold-season musts.

Olivier Durbano Deus ex petra 21 and beautiful stone necklace at Pitti Fragranze 2025

Back at the Leopolda Station proper, where 420 accredited journalists and media operators mingled among buyers from Europe, Switzerland, the UK, the US, Korea and beyond, Olivier Durbano had carved his latest precious stone and set it on fire. Deus ex Petra 21, God from the rock, exudes flaming clarity, bringing his signature frankincense in a radiant, contemporary spirituality. The aldehydic citrus top note of olibanum is loaded with the smoldering floralcy of clove. The high-pitched herbal majesty of sage boosted by the Mediterranean breath of fig leaves is the deep breath of God that purifies and brings to new life everything. The base reveals resinous and mineral hues coating the licorice-tinged tapestry of immortelle. A pinch of ambergris boosts the heated stone savoriness for a fascinating modern carnation that on skin   took me back, in a cold/warm photographic negative to the flawless sophistication of Rock Crystal, one of Durbano’s most memorable creations in his Parfums des pierres poèmes line.

Pigmentarium founder Tomáš Ric at Pitti Fragranze 2025

Showcased in the brutalist setting of Stefano Saccani’s distribution area, Pigmentarium looked perfectly at home with its Central European rationalistic simplicity and the steel script etched on its big glass vials. There I was happy to meet in person the charming founder Tomáš Ric, who explained to me his manifesto of Czech sensibility: architecture, literature and scent built with the same hands. Founded in 2018, Pigmentarium began as an artistic project; its first building block and showcase was Ad Libitum, created not only as a distinctive fragrance but as a glimpse of the secret worlds and stories that would follow. Two creations stood out to me as brilliant, Ad Libitum and Brutal.

Ad Libitum (Jakub Florian Hiermann, 2018) captures the magic of sunset over Prague. Cheerful tangerine, bergamot and neroli, brightened by the shiny coating of aldehydes, give way to a base of oakmoss, musk and patchouli smoothed by the peachy hue of jasmine, nothing but the flawless beauty of a classic citrus-chypre accord conveying the purity of Adolf Loos’ architecture.

Brutal (Théo Belmas) steps straight into an era of glossy magazines, fashionable aperitivos and the rise of prêt-à-porter. It opens on a lip-smacking Negroni accord fused with orange blossom, a sweet-and-sour spark. At its heart, tuberose thickened by ylang-ylang and May rose blooms in a more classic, glamorous bouquet in contrast to the invigorating top notes. Then it settles into a suave ambery-tobacco base exuding the leathery earthiness of isobutyl quinoline from the Bourbon Tobacco DeLaire base (think a glimpse of Habanita), the sensual, husky voice of an ashy-warm trail whispering at late night.

Hiram Green Ultra at Pitti Fragranze 2025

Then a pause, a breath of 100% natural perfumes with Hiram Green welcoming visitors at his booth with the new creations Ultra on the front line. When I first smelled it, the unmistakable barnyard allure of narcissus absolute rose up, all the leather finishings of the horses still clinging to it; I had expected something crisper, sappier on top. When I told Hiram, he smiled and explained that he had in fact started with a generous dose of galbanum, but at each refinement step it seemed to smother the composition, so he kept dimming it back until the flower could speak. On skin, the green opening is still there but now very delicate, letting the yellow cresolic warmth of narcissus blaze more fiercely, a radiant echo of 1980s confidence and neon optimism shading into the darker mythic undertone of Narcissus himself.

Première Peau booth at Pitti Fragranze 2025

Later, in the middle of my wandering, a revelation: Première Peau, a name I had never  heard of before but had already glimpsed on the feeds of French friends, their photos showing the “pears under glass bells” bottles glinting like lab-jewels. The booth itself looked almost like an installation, those breathtaking bottles lined up made quite a statement. I was afraid to discover the scents, worried about that familiar disappointment when a fortune is poured into jaw-dropping flacons and little remains for the juice inside. This was not the case: the fragrances proved equal to their exquisitely stellar presentation.

All the perfumes in the line are created not by well-established perfumers but by young talents, giving the brand a fresh, unfiltered take on perfumery. Even more striking in a segment where launches spin quicker and quicker, Première Peau insists on a long maturation and maceration process for every fragrance, patience and craft where others chase speed.

Gravitas Capitale (Grégoire Balleydier) smells like a city seen from above, electric ambition condensed into scent. It opens on Buddha’s Hand, a funny citrus with a tangy, fruity and slightly floral aroma redolent of yellow mandarin, flashing over an unexpected green-vegetal flicker of Shishito pepper. A stemmy breath of tuberose runs with its sappy venom through it like a vertical pillar, while an asphalt accord exudes mineral, almost savoury facets, boosted by the devastatingly shiny animalcy of Vulcanolide® musk, the scent’s architectural foundation sketched in smoke and tar.

Nuit Élastique (Ugo Charron) is opaque, elastic and strangely alive with its fleshy black olive opening so umami, aromatic and metallic you can almost chew it. This mouthwatering envol is backed by unctuous, deeply indolic jasmine and hints of carnation smoothing it down and making it more classically wearable, yet still unique. Balsams and dark woods form the impression of worn-out latex fitting on skin like a perverse nocturnal glove. Presentation, concept, concoctions, everything felt stunning, avant-garde without affectation.

 D:SOL booth with founder Dennis Werner

Amidst the hustle and bustle at  Pitti Fragranze 2025, D:SOL offered a different take, perfumes with a sunshine state of mind. Established in 2020, the German luxury house creates fragrances inspired  by the founder/ designer Dennis Werner’s, life between Mallorca and Berlin. After 20 years in beauty advertising industry across Europe and the US, Mr. Werner turned his passion for modern luxury into D:SOL. Talking with him at Pitti felt like stepping back to the first editions of the fair, when niche perfumery was more expression than marketing, a slower, more passionate process. His whole line breathes this ethos of slow perfumery, care for raw materials, balance, and human touch. Nothing screams, everything is full-bodied and faceted, the equivalent of well-crafted goods that improve with time. Werner led me through the collection, pausing at the latest creations built with perfumer Delphine Thierry who I know well, as I have also had the privilege of working with her.

Cistus, named after the so-called “rock rose,” for the white flowers resembling the dog rose, opens with the bitter freshness of artemisia, boosted by the minty, animalic bite of buchu and elemi for a peppery, untamed lift. At its heart, Turkish rose absolute and geranium melt into cistus oil, creating an almost tactile velvety, resinous richness. In the drydown, cistus absolute, incense, ambergris and papyrus form a rich mineral, faintly burnt accord reminiscent of ancient stone ruins along Spain’s cistus-laden coastal landscape, an über-chic rose wrapped in wild Mediterranean sunburnt allure.

Ládano shows the plush side of labdanum opening on an unexpected ginger-flower note, redolent of the solar effect of ylang and backed by a lemony freshness. Then hawthorn glows with anisic powder along with the vegetal sweetness of cinnamon leaves, chilled up by stemmy hints of celery. In the heart, immortelle threads its sandy sweetness while black licorice and vanilla melt into a dense, almost edible evocation of chestnut honey. The base layers civet, styrax and labdanum absolute into a rich, slightly smoky, purring amber, the feel of mohair brushed against skin, a precious Baltic-amber necklace adorning the nape, bold yet graceful, reflecting light in a thousand golden facets. Knowing Delphine’s own love for nature, her Grasse home with stone fireplaces, her lab set in a winter garden open to birdsong and wind, makes her signature unmistakable in these fragrances. Before I left, Dennis even gave me a brief glimpse of a new work in progress with art and olfaction award winning perfumer Michael Nordstrand, a whisper of beauty in delicate cerulean shades, still under wraps but already shimmering with promise.

L’Entropiste at Pitti Fragranze 2025

Deeply admiring perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour since the late ‘90s, I was eager to smell the creations he had crafted for himself. From Master of Incense to Master of Disorder it’s a short step; with L’Entropiste, through his flawless technique and profound understanding of raw materials, he dominates the very idea of chaos, or, more scientifically, entropy. “I deliberately introduce imbalance to initiate dynamics. Harmony emerges from unexpected contrasts and a deliberate tension between the forces of the scents I work with” Duchaufour clarifies.

His love letter to incense fully unfolds in Altamura, a quintessentially Duchaufour composition aiming to render “the brilliance of a cosmic breath.” Inspired by unexpected earthly revelations that seem to echo the far reaches of the cosmos, the fragrance opens with a stellar flash of sweet orange boosted by the alcoholic warmth of Cointreau. Incense’s metallic glints are brightened with aldehydes, like a firework slowly fading into a cloud of space-dust, before fading into a nebula of smoke and resins. Dry ambers cutting through and cocoa-sprinkled woods echo early Duchaufour creations for L’Artisan Parfumeur and Frapin, yet without imitating any of them.

Semence Douce is the most daring fragrance in the line, the one that truly makes you bow to the perfumer-creator. Instantly addictive, it opens with a lactonic almond-flour puff that floats in the air with the opalescence of white tulips. As the petals unfurl, the medicinal warmth of saffron gleams in rusty reflections, metal being a fil rouge of the line’s signature. When the spicy-floral glow begins to fade, the focus shifts to the stems with their aqueous sap, backed by the waxy, almost leathery intimacy of the flower’s hidden parts, sticky with secretions and pollen. The result is a green floral, a spicy gourmand and a singular leather scent all at once, so distinctive and brilliant you wish every fragrance in the collection rose to such genius.

Meo Fusciuni Isola at Pitti Fragranze 2025

Back to Fragranze after 14 years, Meo Fusciuni officially introduced his new creation, Isola. Known for treating perfume as meditation, Meo offers here a new stanza in the same long poem, faithful yet more spacious. The fragrance bridges his two beloved islands, Japan and Sicily, and their emblematic fruits, yuzu and lemon, while also paying homage to a masterpiece he reveres, Dior’s Eau Sauvage by Edmond Roudnitska, reimagined in his own language. The fragrance opens like lemonade on a hot afternoon at the old port of Mazara del Vallo, mixed with a can of yuzu soda sipped in a shaded Tokyo street, bright, bittersweet, thirst-quenching. The whip of yuzu, slightly medicinal, bitter and green like verbena, is boosted by the sparkle of lemon and a juicy load of mandarin. This refreshing top note is made to last through a masterful balance of dewy neroli and lavender (and a teaspoon of dihydromyrcenol but oh, handled so elegantly you would never guess). Jasmine and magnolia glance in to round off the corners before slipping into an everlasting herbal-tea and woody base. Isola distils Meo’s 2023 summer between Sicily and Japan into fresh light and the joy of an unforgettable season. When Meo first showed it to me last February in Milan, I couldn’t help but be moved to tears in front of him.

Voskanian Monstre Noir at Pitti Fragranze 2025

A few stands down, Tsovak Voskanian finally unveiled Monstre Noir. This black monster isn’t stitched from classics but from the challenge of formulating a 100% synthetic creation built on the very out-of-the-lab freak molecules perfumistas love and fear at once. Metallic aldehydes, salty dry ambers, blonde woods, phenolic leathers and sharp greens clash and cohere into a modern aromatic tableau as strange and captivating as Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bella Baxter. It marks a new chapter in Tsovak’s creative vision- daring, technically polished and thoroughly contemporary, and proves once more he deserves much admiration.

 Michele Marin Essenza E39 traDire

Nearby at Pitti Fragranze 2025, Michele Marin Essenza was presenting E39 traDire. Its name (in Italian to betray, but also something said between two persons) it’s a nod to Marguerite Yourcenar, for whom betrayal was an act of revelation, a stripping of the self-bare before the world. Marin channels this concept into a classic chypre, revealing his love for French perfumery, a tribute to the masterpieces that shaped his passion and aesthetics. Smelling them together, we both felt as if we werecoming home, like speaking to a lifelong lover with nothing to hide. The pitch-perfect balance, bergamot and galbanum in the crisp opening; peony, jasmine and rose in a chiffon touch of petals; and a slightly animalic, lavish chypre accord: powerful yet deeply moving, traDire is a standout within the Michele Marin Essenza line.

Ānti Parfums co-founder Larissa Sugaipova at Pitti Fragranze 2025

Further along I came to Ānti Parfums, the independent house founded by two young artists who met while studying architecture and botany. Their project starts from the word ante, before: before the marketing, back to plants and to perfumes in ancient times when they were mixtures of tinctures, oils and resins: they call it a practice of historical scents.

Rosa Antiqua (Sidonie Lancesseur) takes inspiration from the most ancient rose concoction known, the mythical rhodinon, already praised by Greek historians. In antiquity, roses were poured into olive pomace to macerate, then everything was milled to make a fine perfume oil. In Rosa Antiqua a stunning olive-oil accord rises beneath a sumptuous rose that unfolds its spicy and balsamic hues, offering a fascinating, original take on a classic soliflore.

Le Jardinier (Marc-Antoine Corticchiato) smells like a neglected, untamed garden. Inspired by the morning after Marie-Antoinette’s party at the Petit Trianon, it imagines the royal gardener tending to the flowers and the aftermath, ingénue lilies bathing in champagne buckets and the sharpness of freshly cut grass. The top of grass and lentisk leads to a heart of lily stems, magnolia and honeysuckle before plunging into a base built on nettle absolute, the same aromatic, spinach-green, chypresque bitterness Corticchiato once glorified in Mal Aimée, darkened with galbanum resinoid. This lends the sap and herbs a disheveled vibe that lifts it far above the usual kitchen-garden herbs and makes the scent stand out.

I was happy to meet again Shekor founder Al-Amin Abedin, and to discover this project inspired by his Bengali roots. The perfumery of tomorrow, I believe, will be ever more multicultural, and Shekor fits this bill. The two debut creations render the landscape of Bangladesh in scent. Sylhet is in a Antonio Gardoni-style composition in which vegetation is not airy but dense, almost sweating in the heat, plunged into a thick base of oud and amber, a vision of the tea gardens of Bangladesh turned into perfume. By contrast, Ashar (Sultan Pasha) takes its name from the first month of the monsoon and really smells like raindrops sprinkled over elegant gardens, bamboo branches and aldehydes dancing in the wind, a sea-breeze caressing tender blossoms, all resting on a delicate, complex chypre base whose whisper lingers for hours on skin, proving Sultan Pasha’s soft touch in flawlessly purring animalic notes.

The première of the movie Memorie Olfattive with Meo Fusciuni: Giuseppe Imprezzabile and Federica Castellani at Pitti Fragranze 2025

This year, for personal reasons, I chose not to stay in Florence during the salon, so the only event I managed to attend was on the first evening: the première of Memorie Olfattive, a film written and directed by Francesco Spagnuolo and produced by Angelika Vision, devoted to Meo Fusciuni and presented as a special event inside the Pitti Fragranze rich agenda. More than a screening, it felt like a celebration. Poetic and intimate, the film revealed not only Giuseppe Imprezzabile’s soul but also his entire creative universe, illuminated by the presence of those who sustain him, especially his life and work partner Federica Castellani. He was visibly moved as friends and admirers gathered close, and even his puppy Luna, darting between chairs to shower him with kisses after the credits rolled, became a tender exclamation point to the evening’s emotion.

Ermano  saying goodbye to Santa Maria Novella. See you next year Firenze!

Pitti Fragranze 2025 confirmed that so-called “niche” perfumery is no longer a niche but a truly global field. Yet within this wider offer you still find perfumers exploring materials and ideas with boldness and imagination, experimenting and expanding the language of scent. This balance between reach and risk is what made this 23rd edition feel alive.

Ermano Picco, Editor

All photos by Ermano Picco

Follow us on Instagram: @cafleurebonofficial@magnifiscent @pittifragranze @perrismontecarlo @olivierdurbano @hiram_green @pigmentarium_parfums @premierepeau @dsolperfumes @lentropiste @meofusciuni_parfums @voskanianparfums @michelemarinessenza @anti.parfum @shekorofficial

This is our Privacy Policy