Pitti Fragranze: The History of Florence’s Perfume Exhibition, Brand Selection, Retrospectives, and Programs for Learning About Raw Materials

旧駅舎の展示場で香りと作り手の仕事を紹介する、Pitti Fragranzeの記事用イラスト

What we need now is not another perfume, but an interesting idea.

Antonio Cristaudo, 2026

Pitti Fragranze in Florence is an exhibition where the people who make perfumes meet the people who introduce them in shops. Yet tracing its history reveals work that cannot be explained simply as arranging products for business meetings. Which brands should be invited? How should the creators of scents be presented? How should the ingredients and techniques that precede a finished perfume be shared?

From a garden’s limonaia to a spacious exhibition venue. From perfumers’ retrospectives to classes comparing raw materials by smell and a fashion designer’s perfume debut. Fragranze has brought together a place to select perfumes and a place to develop ways of looking at them.

Basic Information

  • Name: Pitti Immagine Fragranze
  • First held as an independent event: 2003, Florence, Italy
  • Organizer: Pitti Immagine
  • Venue: Stazione Leopolda. Used since the seventh edition in 2009
  • Main audience: retailers, buyers, distributors, and others in the perfume and beauty sectors. Admission is currently subject to registration and approval for industry professionals
  • Most recent completed edition: the 24th, September 11–13, 2026
  • Next scheduled edition: the 25th, September 10–12, 2027, Stazione Leopolda
  • Official website: Pitti Fragranze

The planned dates and visitor conditions are current as of October 15, 2026. When considering public access to the venue, it is important not to confuse past arrangements with the present system.

From Home Fragrance to an Independent Exhibition

The Starting Point at Pitti Casa

Fragranze’s prehistory lies in Pitti Casa, which focused on home textiles. To convey the world of the home and lifestyle, might furnishings and room fragrances be needed alongside fabrics? From there, the scope expanded to candles and perfumes worn on the body, eventually becoming an independent event. Antonio Cristaudo, the commercial director who has long been involved in Pitti’s work, explains that progression.

This starting point contains a characteristic that continues today: considering perfume within everyday life, spaces, and dress rather than separating it out as a standalone product. Today’s exhibition, where perfume and skincare appear together, is also easier to understand when connected to that earlier interest in the home and ways of living.

2003: Beginning in the Limonaia of the Corsini Gardens

The journey as an independent exhibition began in 2003. The first edition brought together 56 brands in the Corsini Gardens. A limonaia is a building used to protect potted citrus plants from the cold. Early Fragranze editions were small-scale events held in the garden’s buildings.

The sixth edition in 2008 also took place in the limonaia of the gardens of Palazzo Corsini, September 12–14. That edition opened to the public on Saturday the 13th, offering perfume enthusiasts an opportunity to discover new scents. It did not use the same venue and admission system every year from the outset.

2009: Moving to the Leopolda and Expanding the Program

At the seventh edition, September 11–13, 2009, the venue moved to Stazione Leopolda. At the time of the move, Agostino Poletto explained the need to broaden the scope of the exhibition and strengthen its relationship with the city of Florence. Moving to a larger place was not a decision made simply to increase exhibitor numbers.

The new venue adopted an exhibition design using transparency and light, and also provided more space for cultural events, conversations, and presentations. “SPRING,” featuring emerging brands and newly launched collections, and an accessories area were added, together with “LE CAPSULE,” experiential programs organized by exhibiting companies. In the neighboring Spazio Alcatraz, the forum “Il Profumo del Futuro” considered the future of smell and taste.

That year, the exhibition opened to the public only on September 12; the other days were for industry professionals. Different points of entry, product displays, learning programs, and public access, were combined within a single event.

What Do the Organizers Select, and What Encounters Do They Create?

Considering Product, Distribution, and Image Together

In 2026, Cristaudo identified three selection criteria: product quality, distribution appropriate to it, and the right brand image. A technical committee assesses these, aiming for a mix that offers buyers a range of choices. Visiting boutiques, department stores, and perfume shops abroad also provides material for considering what to propose next.

How interesting a fragrance is cannot be separated from where and how it is communicated. The opening phrase, “an interesting idea,” indicates what the organizers are trying to discern in a market where products are proliferating.

Raffaello Napoleone, who was CEO at the time of the 14th edition, also explained the committee’s work in understanding who stands behind a brand and how it is distributed. SPRING, for young brands, had the role of giving opportunities to projects that had only just been unveiled. On the other hand, not every newly established brand lasts. The organizers’ challenge is to choose promising participants by considering their backgrounds, trajectories, and approaches.

Each exhibition is highly specialized, so each follows its own path.

Raffaello Napoleone, at the time of the 14th edition

Pitti also has events for clothing, children’s clothing, food, and other fields. While maintaining each field’s expertise, it has drawn on a shared aesthetic sensibility and experience of organizing programs. There is significance, too, in a perfume exhibition’s close relationship with the work of fashion.

Creating Clear Points of Entry for New Brands and Skincare

Today’s SPRING is an area that selects new brands and perfume lines being introduced to an international audience for the first time. For buyers looking for creators they do not yet know, it offers a guide to where to explore within the venue.

“Soul and Skin,” launched in 2025, focuses on independent skincare. It is a section offering a different proposition to retailers who consider perfume and skincare within a single retail space or way of life. In 2026, “Code Korea,” a collaboration with the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), was also added, presenting four brands: Deardot, Dermathod, Purepeak, and Varol. Through exhibitions and discussions on Korean beauty, it translated an international outlook into a concrete selection.

The Work of Welcoming Overseas Buyers

In the closing report for 2026, Pitti Immagine CEO Ivano Cauli referred to the work of welcoming delegations of industry professionals, buyers, and press from 30 or more countries in cooperation with the Italian Trade Agency (ITA/ICE). Bringing exhibitors together and welcoming the right people to meet them are two parts of the same job.

That edition was reported to have 290 exhibitors and more than 2,200 buyers, including approximately 600 overseas retail participants from more than 50 countries. These are the organizers’ figures, and the number of buyers cannot be substituted for total attendance including the general public. An exhibition’s role is reflected in where prospective business partners come from and the kinds of work they do.

Presenting Perfumers’ Work Through Retrospectives

2019: Jean-Claude Ellena’s 43 Years

The 17th edition in 2019 welcomed Jean-Claude Ellena (in Japanese), with a retrospective put together by critic Chandler Burr. Combining 15 works from 1976 to 2019 with photographs tracing Ellena’s life, it created an experiential installation within the Leopolda. There was also a conversation between Ellena and Burr and a presentation of the then-new creation “Rose & Cuir.”

Burr situated “Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert” in terms of Minimalism and “L’Eau d’Hiver” in terms of Abstract Expressionism. This does not mean that perfumes have a universal art-historical classification; it was a reading proposed by the curator. Following one perfumer’s work across different periods invites consideration of changes in composition and expression. The program brought the long span of a creator’s career into a setting for new launches.

2021: Ralf Schwieger’s Creative Process and Raw Materials

At the 19th edition in 2021, a retrospective was devoted to the work of Ralf Schwieger from 1999 onward. In the public conversation with Burr, raw materials were distributed to participants so that they could smell them simultaneously as the creative process was explained.

Rather than simply remembering a perfumer’s name, participants could connect the creator’s explanation with olfactory clues. Having a perfume’s creator speak on stage while the audience examines the materials in their own hands is a way of approaching work that is difficult to communicate through words alone.

Learning About the Materials Behind Finished Perfumes Through RAW

Flower Extraction in 2021, Comparing Roses in 2022

“RAW” is a program focusing on important perfume ingredients, with an ongoing collaboration with fragrance company MANE (in Japanese). In 2021, under the title “E-Pure Jungle Essence: The Re-birth of Enfleurage,” it presented work connecting enfleurage, an old method of extracting floral fragrance, with modern technology. The subjects were extracts of jasmine grandiflorum, jasmine sambac, and red champaca.

The following year’s “The Rose: Reinventing Iconics,” in 2022, explored how rose-processing technologies expand the range of scents available to perfumers. Perfumer Mathieu Nardin described the significance of smelling raw materials in these terms:

Smelling raw materials is like learning the ABCs of perfume-making.

Mathieu Nardin, 2022

Participants worked through an exercise describing and comparing five different scents from MANE. Nardin also presented “Cuir de Rose,” an homage to Florence and the rose, as a gift to the community. The program placed the experience of smelling finished creations alongside the foundations for thinking about their composition.

2026: From Raw Materials to Spaces and Care

RAW in 2026 was titled “The Scent of Care — When Raw Materials Become Emotional Design.” Exploring the relationship between raw materials, olfactory culture, and design, it broadened its perspective to fragrances that connect people, places, and memories. Participants included MANE perfumer Cristiano Canali and others, joined by Anna Barbara of POLI.design.

Care here is not a word proving that perfume has therapeutic effects. The program considers fragrance not only as something to wear but as an element in designing how spaces feel and how people relate to one another. RAW’s expanding scope lies in moving from discussion of ingredients to questions of where a scent should be experienced and for whom.

Fragrance Programs Extending into Fashion and the City

2025: SETCHU’s Perfume Debut

At the 23rd edition in 2025, SETCHU, the brand led by Satoshi Kuwata, was the Special Guest. Following Kuwata’s appearance at Pitti Uomo in January of the same year, the brand unveiled its first perfume collection at the Leopolda. The five creations made with MANE’s Julie Massé combine days of the week, times of day, and subjects from life in Japan.

I associated each element with a day of the week.

Satoshi Kuwata, 2025

Genmaicha, yuzu, ayu, tatami, and a hinoki bath. These subjects are not a list of famous sights but are connected to eating, bathing, the home, and time spent engaging with nature. Drawing on time spent getting ready without rushing and childhood memories of being cared for by parents, Kuwata considered bathing customs in East and West. The cubic packaging, inspired by the tea chests that protect tea leaves, also gave form to that idea.

Francesca Tacconi, who oversees special events at Pitti, positioned this appearance as the beginning of a series of presentations exploring the intersection of perfume and fashion design. It is work that connects talent encountered at a clothing event with another form of sensory expression.

People and Scents Connect Beyond the Venue, Too

Fragranze’s programs are not confined to the Leopolda. In 2019, “La Città delle Fragranze” extended events to several locations around the city. It creates opportunities for the professionals visiting the exhibition to encounter the fragrance culture of Florence as a city.

However, not every event taking place in the city at the same time is an exhibition within the official venue. In 2023, for example, Thomas de Monaco and others presented in showrooms at nearby hotels. De Monaco spoke about the significance of gathering in this location for building cooperative relationships with local shops. Distinguishing official exhibits, official city programs, and presentations organized independently by brands reveals the breadth of exchange that develops around the exhibition.

From the Online 18th Edition to the Return of In-person Events

At the 18th edition in 2020, digital programs ran on Pitti Connect. The “Virtual Wellness Experience,” September 7–21, included RAW on lavender and a conversation between Chandler Burr and Hiro Nakayama about Japanese incense culture. Connecting online talks with opportunities to discover brands kept a forum for conversation going even when people could not gather together.

The 19th edition, September 17–19, 2021, returned to an in-person format at the Leopolda. At that time, Pitti Connect enabled people to book meetings during the fair in advance. Digital tools became something that supported the preparation and continuation of encounters, rather than a substitute that would disappear when in-person events returned.

Meanwhile, in a 2021 interview, Poletto expressed the view that the chance discoveries made by being in the same place cannot be reproduced by an algorithm. Meeting not only the people one has planned to see, but also people, things, and situations one did not yet know. That possibility is part of an exhibition’s value, too.

Milestones and Visitor Conditions for the Future

Year and Edition Venue, Format, and Main Events
2003, 1st edition Begins as an independent event in the Corsini Gardens, with 56 brands participating.
2008, 6th edition September 12–14, in the limonaia of the Corsini Gardens. Open to the public on the 13th.
2009, 7th edition September 11–13, moves to the Leopolda. SPRING and other areas introduced. Open to the public on the 12th.
2019, 17th edition September 13–15, at the Leopolda. Ellena retrospective and programs around the city.
2020, 18th edition Digital programs on Pitti Connect. Online talks and other events held September 7–21.
2021, 19th edition September 17–19, in-person events resume at the Leopolda. Schwieger retrospective.
2025, 23rd edition September 12–14, at the Leopolda. SETCHU unveils its first perfume collection.
2026, 24th edition September 11–13, at the Leopolda. Held under the theme “CURA.” Already concluded.
2027, 25th edition Scheduled for September 10–12 at the Leopolda.

The Most Recent 24th Edition and the Upcoming 25th

The most recent completed event is the 24th edition in 2026. Its theme was “CURA,” the Italian word for “care.” It welcomed Niccolò Pasqualetti as Special Guest and Daniela Andrier as Master Perfumer. The format of combining discussions of perfume and beauty culture with presentations of new creations continued in this edition.

The next announced event is the 25th edition, September 10–12, 2027. The current official visitor information sets out an admission system requiring industry professionals to register their companies, submit the necessary documents, and receive approval; it excludes the general public and perfume enthusiasts. Past Saturdays when enthusiasts could attend cannot be advertised as days they will also be able to enter next time. Programs around the city must likewise be understood according to the access each organizer specifies.

Even so, the work of Fragranze concerns more than just the people who enter the venue. Buyers discover new creators and bring their work back to their shops. Perfumers’ words and ways of comparing raw materials change the language used to explain perfumes. Between a bottle of perfume and the reader are people who select, learn, and communicate. This exhibition in Florence is a place where those people develop knowledge and relationships.

An Aside: What Florence Smells Like to Poletto

In 2021, when asked what Florence smells like, Poletto answered:

The smell of the pastry workshop I pass every morning.

Agostino Poletto, 2021

Not a celebrated perfume representing the city, but a smell encountered along an everyday route. Away from the work of an event introducing so many perfumes, there was a small place recurring in one person’s daily life.

References