Pitti Fragranze 2022: 11 New Perfume Brands

About Pitti Fragranze: Comparing It to Other Perfume Trade Shows

I In Europe, there are three main trade fairs for niche and artistic perfumery – Esxence in Milan, Pitti Fragranze in Florence and TFWA in Cannes.

Esxence is the biggest and the most international, attracting hundreds of brands and thousands of visitors. The 2022 edition had to be postponed several times due to Covid-19, but when it finally happened, it was insanely busy and packed. All my memories of the four days I spent there have melted into one blurry run through exhausting, long corridors to get from A to B.

TFWA in Cannes is a trade fair, but even more so a series of events outside the fair grounds available for attendance by invitation only. This means more time for meaningful conversations and more business-oriented visitors who come to meet specific partners and not to idly look around. On the flip side, it makes no sense to attend if you are just curious about the perfume world without any particular business interests and partners to meet.

Where does this leave Pitti Fragranze? Florence has been hosting this trade show for two decades. 2022 marked their 20th edition. I haven’t been there from the beginning, but recently the show has evolved from a general artistic fragrance meetup to an event that serves two main functions.

First, it brings together brands and their Italian clients. This makes sense, given that it’s taking place in Florence and Italian visitors are a majority. So brands use the fair to meet their local partners, old and new, and strengthen the relationships.

And second, Pitti Fragranze lets new brands shine like no other industry event can. The show is smaller than Esxence both in terms of the number of exhibiting companies and visitors, and thus leaves space and time for new brand discovery.

When you have only four days and more than 300 stands to check out, you will inevitably end up visiting your long-standing partners first. And if you have to say hi to 20 existing partners before you can even think of exploring anything else, chances are you won’t see many newcomers even if you wanted to. That is what’s happening at Esxence – the show is just too big to be good for newbies without established connections to buyers and media.

That’s why Pitti’s smaller size is actually a big advantage for emerging talent and industry newcomers. Visitors have enough time and stamina to both catch up with established perfume houses and discover brands they don’t yet know.

With this in mind, follow me and let’s take a look at new fragrance brands from Pitti Fragranze 2022!

Altra: Profuture Perfumes

A Altra is a new all-natural brand based in the UK. One of the founders and the nose behind the line is Beckielou Brown.

I usually don’t like natural perfumes that much. Oftentimes they come off as too aggressive and unbalanced, brutally wild. Not this time, however. The exciting thing about Altra is that they use natural raw materials to construct futuristic fragrances, abstract compositions that do not mimic the botanicals they are made off. I love the idea of liberating selected natural oils and extracts from depicting themselves and giving them a different narrative instead – one that creates new associations and is not based on natural environment, but on future-forward ideas and man-made concepts such as architecture or science fiction.

It’s a good thing that the fragrances live up to the high expectations this description creates. How about the wet concrete jungle with some exotic Jurassic period greens in-between from the Dualist? Or the intense otherworldly overexposed jasmine experience of Jasmine XXX? Altra has got you covered.

Altra Skin deserves a special mention. It’s a fragrance that acts as a booster and a skin scent. You might have heard of such boosters from other brands (like Maison Margiela’s Replica “filters” or Floraiku’s “shadowing” options). This type of abstract and delicate perfume has been around for a while, and its popularity is only growing. However, most of these “booster/ skin scent” fragrances consist of pretty much the same combination of ingredients – of synthetics like Iso E Super, Hedione and a couple of other famous and widely used “white musks”. So, when I first smelled Altra Skin and got a whiff of its gentle transparent veil, I decided this must be an exception from the brand’s all-naturals-rule. Simply because I didn’t think it’s possible to achieve this effect otherwise. And I was so wrong! Altra Skin is the only fully natural scent I know of that feels like a feather or a soft touch to your skin. A remarkable achievement and definitely a game-changer for all lovers of natural fragrances – now you don’t have to choose between natural ingredients and your love for soft-spoken skin hugging olfactory sensations. You can have both!

Sora Dora: New French Brand

OOne of the big discoveries of Pitti Fragranze was the newly launched French brand Sora Dora. Unique, contemporary, wearable, fun and classy fragrances – check. Heavy, expensive looking bottles and caps – check. Sleek visuals and fragrance names – check. Founders that you want to hang out with – check!

I was very surprised to find out Sora Dora launched just two months ago – the whole presentation, packaging, design… everything about it looks so well-thought-out and professional.

And the fragrances! The stunning Greasque that contains 50 (!) different types of mint extracts because the founder is fond of mint, would alone make getting to know Sora Dora worthwhile. But the truth is that all 7 fragrances are great. At the fair, the brand didn’t have any discovery sets, but I am looking forward to getting my nose into the perfumes in the future.

Mutis Nueva Granada: Mysteries and Nature of Colombia

MMutis Nueva Granada is a young brand, first launched at Pitti Fragranze in 2021. In one year they have achieved a lot and are now available not only online, but also in brick-and-mortar fragrance boutiques. This does not surprise me, as they have all elements in place – a deep and meaningful origin story, unique bottle and visual design, and amazing original fragrances.

The name is honoring Celestino Mutis, a scientist and botanist who described the nature of Colombia in the tradition of the European science for the first time in 18th century. He also contributed to the creation of the first botanical gardens in Nueva Granada, anticipating the philosophy of environmental preservation.

Nueva Granada is a vast region, which includes present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Guyana, Ecuador, and parts of Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Peru with the center in Colombian Bogotá. So Mutis Nueva Granada is all about the nature and the culture of the region, inspired by botany, history of the indigenous people and the European conquerors, and the mythical atmosphere in the works of Colombian artists like Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The brand launched with six fragrances in 2021. All of them designed by the founder and creative director Hanssen David Diaz Reyes. I’ve tried all of them, and they are among the most original creations of the recent years. The tall, slender black bottles with caps that resemble colorful cave crystals are gorgeous. The boxes holding them are real gems covered in artworks that tell the stories of the perfumes. And the fragrances are deep, strikingly original, and beautiful. In a blind smelling session I had with a professional perfumer, they received the highest marks for the unique compositions and high concentration of rare naturals.

And you can even try one of them, Selva Negra – the dark, mysterious and probably the most sensual scent of the collection – in the Dance of Summer edition of Perfumestry box, the niche fragrance discovery service that I own.

At this year’s Pitti Fragranze, Mutis have introduced a new perfume – Kintu. With its violet bottle cap, the scent is channeling richness and mystery. The composition is based around resins and amber. It’s intense, deep, and dark. Perfect for moody winter evenings.

Extra Virgo: Dark Narcotic Plants

F Fabulous darkness of the forbidden botanicals and certainly the most spectacular display at the show. The brand is founded by Alex Postiglione, a descendant of the last king of Burma, a dandy, photographer, bohemian, self-proclaimed revolutionary and a big fan of the plant world. The fragrances of Extra Virgo reflect his eclectic tastes and fascination with history and narcotic effects of the plant kingdom.

The five perfumes exploring coffee, cacao, mushrooms, tobacco, and cannabis are all unapologetically dark, rich, and decadent. Representing another era when rock stars meditated (and performed other rock star rituals) behind the closed curtains of renaissance palaces, these fragrances are a little goth, a little strange, and a hundred percent magnificent. Very far from the mainstream proportions, I feel that Extra Virgo perfumes are reserved for the special few. So, in a way, represent the original meaning of “niche” at a time when the word has gone mainstream.

Estoras: Tribute to Gentleman-Adventurer

YYou know how sometimes when you meet people first and only find out about their product or service later, you stop caring about the quality of what they do because you like the makers so much? It could have been the case here because I had a long and very pleasant conversation with Sophie at Estoras booth before we remembered to actually smell their fragrance. At that point, I wouldn’t have cared if it turned out to be just okay-ish, because of how impressed I was with the founding story. How lucky that Antal (the only perfume of the brand so far) is super sophisticated and beautiful!

It’s a refined and classic gentleman’s scent with just the right amount of vintage spirit. Fragrance has no gender and all that, but Antal just screams suits, sports cars, cigars, and gentlemen’s clubs! Of course, if that’s your vibe as a lady (or any other gender) – more power to you, this perfume is made to accompany you on your every-day adventures.

The style is owned to the perfume’s name – it’s a homage to the grandfather of the founder Paul-Anton Esterházy. His granddad Prince Antal Esterházy was a renaissance man and an adventurer who was among the first to cross the Sahara desert with a car. The old photos the brand uses in their design are actual photos of Antal, taken during his travels. And the idea to create Estoras came to Paul-Anton when he discovered a small vial of perfume in his grandfather’s possessions.

We can all hope to live a life that will inspire grandchildren to create fragrance collections to honor our achievements and adventures. If you get the spirit, give Estoras and Antal a chance. They’ve just launched this year!

Olfactive Pharmacy: Fragrance Potions from Cologne, Germany

AA brand from the German city dear to my heart – Cologne. Köln is not only the place where I went to university, but also the cradle of the European perfumery. Eau de Cologne is named after it because the first Kölnisch Wasser (literally, eau de cologne) was patented and produced there. You can still buy the 4711 original and even visit their perfume museum pretty much exactly where the first edc was created – in Glockengasse 4. So, when you think about it, it’s strange that no big perfume names came from Cologne after Farina and 4711 that date back many centuries.

Let’s hope Olfactive Pharmacy can change it! They certainly have the talent to do so. The brand is created by two perfume lovers and pharmacists (who also have experience running Cologne’s prime niche fragrance boutique Duftkunsthandlung) Oliver and Holger Dubben. Inspired by their profession, the bottles are made from brown glass in the shape of old apothecary bottles, the labels resemble apothecary labels and the fragrance names are Latin names of featured botanicals. The vibe is between modernity and alchemy, perfumes and potions.

The line currently consists of three perfumes – Betula, Salvia and Tilia. All have a warm, herby feel to them. My favorites are Betula (means birch, and I happen to like the dark smoky birch tar note it’s full of a lot) and Tilia (linden). Linden blossom note is an enigma of the fragrance world. Many brands and perfumers try their hand at it, but only very few get it right. Olfactive Pharmacy (and the perfumer Mark Baxton) belong to the latter group. It’s a beautiful light-filled and delicate, yet also strong and grounded fragrance. Unique and lovely!

Tobba: Clarity and Minimalism

AAlready seen at Esxence in June, Tobba founders have again showcased the perfectly understated beauty of their perfumes. In the age of loud and potent fragrances (not judging, just stating the facts), Tobba scents are delicate, introverted, minimalist, and poetic. The collection is perfect for individualists who avoid wearing shiny, visible logos. Their fragrances channel the zen state of mind – they are fine, sensual, and smart.

Voskanian: Perfumes from Armenia

AA brand from Armenia! I’m so happy to see perfume houses emerge in countries outside the France-Italy-Dubai triangle, especially in countries from the former Soviet Union. Had a great chat with the brand representative at Pitti, but almost forgot to smell the fragrances (that’s why I usually prefer to smell first and talk later). The only one I remember is Soir Vert, and it alone would already justify the brand’s existence. It’s a charming, sparkling, happiness inducing summer cocktail with melon, rhubarb, and watermelon. Mouthwatering and amazing! Need to resmell the rest of the line, as I suspect there is more great stuff to explore there.

Another cool thing about Voskanian are their limited edition bottles that are carved from real obsidian. I don’t even care what perfume is inside. Those bottles are to (figuratively) die for! The stones come from Armenian mountains and the production costs must be insane because a tiny crack during the carving or the polishing process means the stone gets thrown out and the work starts a new with another one. True exclusivity like that has its price, of course. Everything that’s real has.

Hunq: New Fragrance Concept from Amsterdam

AA fun new (founded in 2021) brand from Amsterdam. I first saw it at the stand of their Italian distributor Release at this year’s Exsence, but that show was so overwhelming that I didn’t get to write about it.

If the sound of the brand name reminds you of anything, then you are probably not mistaken. Hunq play with male identity and gender in general. Their five fragrances in color-coded square bottles are dedicated to professions – Gardener, Mechanic, Lifeguard, Barman and Carpenter. If that sounds pretty innocent, then you haven’t seen their visuals that poke fun at the “typically male” Village-People-YMCA-style stereotypes associated with these jobs.

The fragrances take the names quite literally, and you will find greenery in the Gardener, marine freshness in Lifeguard, whiskey and wooden bar counter in Barman and machine oil in Mechanic. But the mood is between kawaii and sarcasm, nothing pretentious or too serious about them. Feels almost like the brand is eyeing Gen Z who are comfortable with fluid gender roles.

In fact, if we are talking about brands that create perfumes inspired by professions, another one immediately comes to mind – St Giles (big fan, in case you are wondering). Those guys (and girls) also make perfumes that are designed to make you feel like a Writer, Mechanic, Actress, or Tycoon. The difference: there is no focus on gender stereotypes in the storytelling and the perfumes are… well, they are more perfume-y, meaning they actually follow the canon of European perfumery with complex compositions, well-balanced structure and haute fragrance appeal. They feel more adult. And like something you won’t get bored with when the novelty value wears off. We’ll see if Hunq withstands the test of time.

Attar al Has: Striking Bottles and Refined Fragrances

MMy reaction, when I saw the bottles from afar, was to proceed with caution. They are big and showy, with generous use of intricate gold details and shiny surfaces. Given that minimalism and sustainability are major trends on the European market, Attar al Has design looks like a lot to take in, even when adjusted for the fact that it comes from a different culture. But as they say, don’t judge the book by its cover! After close inspection of the booth, my fears turned into excitement.

First, the bottles are indeed quite shiny. Generally, the problem with shiny bottles is rarely the shine itself, but rather that they can look and feel very cheap if the metallic surfaces are uneven or the paint too thin and scratched. Attar al Has bottles are massive (very heavy glass), perfectly polished and the reflective paint is applied in a way that looks very precise and durable. No cheapness danger here.

Second, the fragrances. OMG, they are great! The brand has partnered with top noses, and it shows. The style of the fragrances is quite different from the bottle design. It’s not big, loud and heavy. The perfumes have a presence, of course. But they don’t drag you into the middle of an oriental spice bazaar, overloading the nose and the mind. Instead, they invite for a casually elegant walk at different locations around the globe. It’s difficult to keep precise memories after smelling more than 10 fragrances within a couple of minutes at the fair stand, but I remember instantly marking at least three as wish list worthy. That’s a lot for a brand that I was seeing for the very first time.

They have a fantastic semi-gourmand oud, a marvelous soft tactile white musk (very aptly named Skin Musk), and a whole range of beautiful white (and colored) flowers. If you see Attar al Has in a store, don’t get fooled by the appearance. Inside the bottles is the finest European perfumery with delicate Middle Eastern references. A brand to put on your radar.

Mugham: Music and Perfumes from Azerbaijan

AA very promising young brand from Azerbaijan that was launched during Covid, so 2022 Pitti Fragranze became its first international outing. (Did I already say how excited I am to discover brands from countries that aren’t big targets on the perfume lover’s map?)

The name Mugham means a music system that is strikingly different from Western musical tradition. It’s not primarily a type of scale and tone notation, but a complex system of melodies and melodic parts tied to specific occasions that is transmitted from the master to his pupils orally that relies heavily on improvisation. As far as I understood, there is no comprehensive notation system for mugham that would make it possible to put everything on paper. One can call mugham the classical music of Azerbaijian. Its importance was recognized internationally when mugham was added to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in 2008.

With such a grand brand name, the perfumes better deliver! And they do. Mugham scents are not as radically different from the European canon as mugham music is, but they bring unexpected (and surprisingly pleasant) combinations and juxtapositions of well-known ingredients. It’s a line worth getting your nose into – the fragrances feel fresh and original and are easily wearable, what I call “made for real people”, not exotic concept lovers. I hope to see more of Mugham in the future!

Did this report make your eyes sparkle with excitement? What brands appeal to you the most?

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