Walking from Santa Maria Novella down the narrow walls of via della Scala, breathing the fresh morning breeze nose up, an incredible blue sky stream led me the to Leopolda Station. A white marble tile set against the blue, the cover image for Pitti Fragranze 2019 the seventeen edition, welcomed me with the sensual purity of anatomic details inspired by Antonio Canova and Gianlorenzo Bernini. Harmony as the purest beauty to be preserved in an ever changing world where we must learn to live and move; that’s the inspiration chosen by the graphic designer Diego Soprana.
This also reflects in the luminous show layout, revealing more naked walls from the ancient station, addressing newness in the air thanks to fluorescent neon words and choosing total white and bleached natural woods for the booths and other meeting spaces.
This year Pitti Fragranze 2019 as a response to missing long-time participants, dedicated more space to haute-couture skincare, a presence with ever-growing numbers in a niche market that Italian retailers finally understand can secure the customer loyalty in times when perfumery doesn’t. I can’t really explain it correctly with my poor knowledge on the subject, adding only the main trend is combining nature and lab in the most effective and eco-sustainable way to get the maximum in terms of active principles, experience and packaging.
RAW, the Pitti Fragranze 2019 conference dedicated to raw materials focused on Woods. Like inside an enchanted fragrant forest surrounded by the bleached woods installation decorating the conference room, Mane’s Fine Fragrances Vice-President perfumer Veronique Nyberg together with Ingredients Director Cyril Gallardo guided us through Mane’s outstanding woody palette. Mme Nyberg underlined the importance that modern woods research, sprung from the research on ambergris (like ambroxan), are now part of perfumery not only to support the demand for extreme longevity, but also as a signature as deep and powerful woody notes.
A great example is “Driftwood”, a specialty accord based on the natural materials she presented. It’s worth mentioning the nutty and leathery rectified vetiver bourbon, a raw material featured in many classic masterpieces that almost disappeared in the 1980s and that Mane started growing sustainably in Madagascar 8 years ago. Another material we smelled is licorice bark absolute, which prominent anise sweetness conjures immediately feel-good childhood memories.
Maestro Jean Claude Ellena was the star of Pitti Fragranze 2019. There was a retrospective that Pitti Fragranze 2019 dedicated to his career and style evolution which guided the visitor along a white wall from Van Cleef & Arpels First (1976) to the latest creation for Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir, which I finally had the chance to smell.
Monsieur Ellena explained in a dedicated talk how this fragrance was born, starting from Frédéric Malle insisting to work with him again as soon as he left Hermès on January 2018. Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir is the essence of a rose, or its absence. It’s the illusion of leather aged in a future past.
Author Chandler Burr (The Perfect Scent) and Jean Claude Ellena: Presentation of Frederic Malle Rose & Cuir
Focusing on a sparkling Timur pepper essence redolent of grapefruit and passion fruit, he built the echoes of a crisp, metallic green rose around geranium bourbon, highlighted by juicy litchee facets surrounded by the leathery bitterness of iso-buthyl quinoleine. Jean Claude Ellena pointed out that Rose & Cuir marks the third evolution of his style: “I’ve never used so many naturals in a perfume in a very long time.”
–Ermano Picco, Editor and Fragrance Expert
all photos Ermano©
Follow us on Instagram @cafleurebon and @magnificent
Cafleurebon Senior Editor dana sandu, Guest Contributor Elena Cvjetkovic and Ermano Picco at Pitti Fragranze 2019
Don’t miss part two from Ermano and more from the team to discover the latest new gourmands, more perfumery and sustainability, the latest fragrance technologies and what was new and noteworthy at Pitti Fragranze 2019.