Pitti Fragranze 17 Finale: Maison Rabatchi Jasmin Satin, Grandiflora Saskia, Miller Harris Sublime Blossom, Etat Libre d’Orange She was an Anomoly, Pekji

Fragranze 17 Miller Harris urban bohemian booth

Flowers in the air and neon lights for the Miller Harris urban bohemian booth at Fragranze

A few years ago Florals returned on petaled tiptoes as a departure from heavy Orientals and gourmands  first, it was only a foreshadowing although as both the environmental crisis and the search for new, unrestricted floral raw materials have steadily fostered this exciting theme. At Fragranze 17 I smelled various new blooming bouquets, but two remarkable white florals I put my nose on are Maison Rebatchi Jasmin Satin and Miller Harris Sublime Blossom. After a quick preview at Esxence last spring, I was happy to smell again the first where Karine Dubreuil unfolds a bunch of jasmine, orange blossom and tuberose laden in sunny and honeyed facets over the warmth of an interesting sand finish. Brand founder Mohamed Rebatchi was so kind to let me smell a preview of their next collaboration with perfumer Nathalie Feisthauer, a woody amber with silver-powdery hues.

Maison Rebatchi Jasmin Satin review

Maison Rebatchi Jasmin Satin at Fragranze

Smelling Sublime Blossom, it’s unmistakable Bertrand Duchaufour’s peppery metallic, multifaceted citrus-green signature brightening the freesia and honeysuckle heart of this joyful bouquet ruled by the warm sophistication of orange blossom. On a side note, speaking about eco-sustainability, also Miller Harris revisited its packaging and whether I preferred the old botanical patterns to the latest pastel-pop flacons, I must admit the current box basements made out of recycled plastic from specific London areas are really cool (the piece with humor shows the postal code of the area where the garbage was collected).

Etat Libre d’Orange she was an anomaly review

Etat Libre d’Orange She was an anomaly designed with Givaudan’s AI tool Carto at Fragranze

It’s worth mentioning also Etat Libre d’Orange and Creative Director Etienne de Swardt’s latest introduction inspired by the combination of legendary singer Nina Simone and film maker Stanley Kubrik, She was an anomaly – for the one you will never understand- I had the chance to smell close to the Leopolda station where the Italian distributor Officina Parfum was exhibiting. After last year’s I Am Trash Les Fleurs Du Dechet (reviewed by Sr Editor Despina Veneti), Daniela Andrier’s second collaboration unmistakably exudes her musky signature, yet the fragrance is the first one designed with the help of Givaudan’s AI-powered tool Carto that I had the chance to smell. So, how does that affect the creations? You can definitely pick the sleek chic backbone of Prada Infusion d’Iris here, but with prominent iris and a pear exuberance added as the anomaly.

Silvio Levi on why they chose to exhibit outside of Fragranze 17

Calé press event at SixGallery space in Milan: on the left Silvio Levi and Floris perfumer Nicola Pozzani

A few days before moving to Florence, I was invited to a press event from Calé, the Italian distributor of Floris, CREED, Majda Bekkali and Grandiflora, among others. Founder Silvio Levi welcomed me at SixGallery, an amazing post-industrial loft close to the docklands area now beautifully gentrified as events space, where he explained to me first the reason  why his team was missing from Fragranze after being part of the technical committee for many years. “Fragranze has been for longtime a reference for the operators in the Italian market, but things have changed faster and faster during the years and I thought the audience of this show expected a change too in many ways. I tried in the past editions not only to give advices, but also to trace new directions with the proposals and the brands I brought. This seems to have passed unnoticed. Moreover a change was to exclude the public from the show, in a world where everything becomes virtually at hand, where often with a click you can get insights of a new launch even before its ready. Everybody kept telling a change was needed, but nobody took actions. So I decided to act and doing something different instead of joining Pitti. This is not a no-return adieu, but things need to change”.

Grandiflora Saskia review

Grandiflora Saskia at Fragranze which will be launched at TFWA 2019 Cannes September 30, 2019

Back to florals, in Milan I was able to smell the brand new Grandiflora Saskia, a stunning white floral to be officially launched at the TFWA 2019 in Cannes. The category is gardenia and a huge one where perfumer Christophe Laudamiel magnifies the crisp, bittersweet greenery with notes taken from the universe of Australian Creative Director Saskia Havekes: that glamorous floral shop air filled in moist, honeyed and indolic accents concealing ripe, mineral and earthy traces. The creamy, almost fleshy petals of the white blossom with hints of sandalwood melt on skin in a spectacular mess that’s already gone in my personal wish list.

PEKJI fragrances by Ömer İpekçi

Stefano Saccani booth at Fragranze 17 introducing PEKJI fragrances

Another interesting presence at Fragranze was the brand PEKJI that just joined the Italian distributor Stefano Saccani. After the well-established Turkish brand Nishane and the newcomer Regalien, it’s interesting to smell PEKJI, the first artisanal Turkish brand founded by former illustrator and graphic designer and self-taught perfumer Omer Ipekci. Though showing some unpolished textures and balances, the fragrances stand on their own without surrending to easy tributes but reinterpreting middle-eastern tradition through a contemporary language. A favorite in the line is the smoldering earthy Battaniye. A hand-wrapped matte black paper package designed by Francesca Gotti housing the glass flacons etched in Turkish poetry channels this contemporary vibe.

Parfums de Nicolaï’s 30th anniversary perfume Baïkal Leather Fragranze 17

Parfums de Nicolaï’s 30th anniversary perfume Baïkal Leather

Last but not least, let me briefly mention Parfums de Nicolaï Baïkal Leather which I smelled as a preview in Milan last spring and CaFleureBon was chosen to announce. The final release celebrating the 30th anniversary of the House is truly gorgeous with its tarry, spiced and mineral leather reviving the classic Cuir de Russie archetype thanks to an amazing new raw material, pine tar oil. The fragrance was beautifully covered by our dear Ida Meister, so check out her review for more insights and let me wish the First Lady of perfumery Patricia Nicolai happy anniversary and many more years of beautiful creations.

Ermano Picco, Editor

Read  Ermano’s Fragranze 17 Part 1, Part 2,  and take a virtual tour with Editor Sebastian Jara here

All photos are Ermano’s

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8 comments

  • fazalcheema says:

    This article gives me a little idea of how AI will shape perfumery in future. AI is capable of learning at much much faster pace than humans and one of the ways AI will learn to make perfumes is by studying the formulas of past perfumes which should be a piece of cake for AI to learn and analyze. And once it has done that, not only copying or modernizing the past formulas should be way too easy for AI but even the potential for innovation in terms of novel structure is huge. In other words, the era of human perfumers is in its last stages except maybe few artisan perfumers who set up their own shops and cater to only those with deep pockets as artisan crafts tend to be in short supply and it is much more labor-intensive task that AI-powered perfumery.

  • fazalcheema says:

    @wallygator88, I didn’t use any particular references for this comment, just my opinion on the basis of what I have read about AI, my general understanding of how AI works, and the info in this article that ELDO’s new fragrance mimics the structure of Prada Infusion d’ Iris and adds a little twist to it.

  • Ermano says:

    Dear fazalcheema,
    There’s a risk indeed, but wait… AI is not doing anything by itself, it’s a CAD tool, and the perfumer enters the formulas or can modify them in the process. And again the perfumer chooses any improvement on it, and verdicts the final submission. So still very much up to the perfumer, just faster sometimes or with unexpected suggestions that might stimulate creativity.
    Btw She was an anomaly is not a little twist on the Prada, it’s a big one

  • xoe says:

    oh my goodness. Now I absolutely must try She Was An Anomaly. Prada’s Infusion d’Iris is my Mom’s chosen perfume, to have something just a bit different sounds divine. And, I love so many of ELDO’s scents. Last year’s I Am Trash was just lovely to me.

  • redwheelbarrow says:

    This is the first I’ve heard of Carto and it seems fitting that ELDO has come out with the first AI assisted fragrance. I’d be interested to try it and to learn more about the process.

  • KateD says:

    I look forward to seeing the new Miller Harris packaging, sounds interesting (but I LOVED their old bottles…)
    Grandiflora Saskia sounds like it’s going to go right on my wish list too! Thanks for the fantastic reviews and photos. This series has been a real treat!