Step Aboard | The City’s Pulse, Captured in a Can | ルシェルシェパルファム

“I am not selling perfume. I am selling a complete package: a story, a state of being, an experience.”
— Georgiana Mocanu, founder of Step Aboard

Basic Information
The Founder and the Brand’s Origins
The Brand’s Commitments
The Fragrance Range
An Interesting Aside…

Basic Information

Established: The project began in Parma, Italy, in 2016 and made its debut in Milan in 2018.
Founders: Georgiana Mocanu and Daniele Morando
Official website: https://www.stepaboard.it

The Founder and the Brand’s Origins

From Romania to Italy: Georgiana’s Beginnings

Step Aboard founder Georgiana Mocanu is Romanian, “born on the banks of the Danube and raised in the culture of ancient Dacia.” At nineteen, she moved to northern Italy and enrolled in the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature at the University of Brescia. While studying, she went to Paris through the Erasmus program and gained the unusual experience of working with the Louvre’s Department of Prints and Drawings on a scholarship.

“The Louvre’s underground collections are far larger than what is on display, and works are lent to museums around the world.”
— Georgiana Mocanu

In the Department of Prints and Drawings, she witnessed condition checks on artworks and preparations for exhibitions. She recalls it as “a wonderfully inspiring experience, spending long periods close to humanity’s masterpieces.” Her life in Paris, where she absorbed both the language of art and French perfume culture, could be said to have laid the foundations for the brand’s later philosophy.

An Encounter with Hermès: The Beginnings of a Dream of Perfume

After earning a master’s degree in international relations, Georgiana moved into the fashion industry. She worked as a visual merchandiser and sales assistant for Burberry, Max Mara, and Hermès. Her experience at Hermès was particularly important: opening new stores, marketing, and working with VIP clients gave her a thorough grounding in the essentials of luxury retail.

It was at Hermès that Georgiana discovered the perfumes of Jean-Claude Ellena. Encountering the work of the house’s then in-house perfumer, who had also collaborated with Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels, first gave her the idea of “launching a new olfactory label, one promoted through unconventional marketing.”

“I have loved perfume since I was a child and enjoyed guessing the fragrances I passed in the street.”
— Georgiana Mocanu

A Perfumery School in Parma: The Birth of the Brand

Wanting “to make it a proper business,” Georgiana learned of a perfumery school in Parma and decided to enroll without hesitation. Her participation in a specialized course run by perfume consultancy Mouillettes & Co. in 2016 marked the brand’s practical starting point.

The course offered more than knowledge. The school acted as a consultant in developing her business plan and introduced her to essential contacts in the industry. It was also here that she met Daniele Morando. They “developed a friendship based on mutual esteem and respect,” and Georgiana eventually invited him to help realize her vision.

Two Years of Trial and Error, and a Debut in 2018

After completing the course, Georgiana spent about two years refining her ideas for the collection. She worked through a process of trial and error to resolve where to source the fragrances, how to finish the products, and the greatest technical challenge: how to enclose a fragrance in a graffiti spray can without letting it touch the metal surface.

“I spent about two years thinking through this project: who would make the fragrances, how to enclose the scent in a graffiti spray can without it touching the metal surface, and so on.”
— Georgiana Mocanu

The venture was entirely self-funded. No outside investment was accepted.

“I took a great risk. There was no external funding at all. But I would never have taken the risk if I had not believed it could become a visionary idea.”
— Georgiana Mocanu

In December 2018, the first collection, inspired by Milan, made its debut at the city’s White fashion trade show. The perfume industry was astonished by its unprecedented graffiti-style spray-can packaging and its category-crossing proposal of fragrance for both hair and body.

The Pandemic and International Expansion

Soon after the debut, the spread of COVID-19 drastically altered the brand’s plans. When Italian stores closed, Georgiana shifted her channels toward collaborations with beauty bloggers and online sales. This led to expansion into Russia, where Bosco Sospeso appeared in a Glamour Russia beauty feature; the United Arab Emirates, through the niche perfume shop Limited Gallery in Abu Dhabi; and, in 2022, Japan, at NOSE SHOP in Shibuya and Nagoya.

Within little more than a year of its debut, the brand attracted international attention. Georgiana was interviewed by the president of the Paris design fair Tranoi, and the brand was selected for French department store Galeries Lafayette’s “Only At Tranoi” project. It also received approaches about collaborations from Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche and even Dover Street Market, the retail arm of Comme des Garçons. It continued exhibiting at Pitti Fragranze in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

The Brand’s Commitments

A Fragrance Philosophy: Bottling the “Soul” of a City

At the heart of Step Aboard is the concept of “capturing a city’s scents and atmosphere in a can.” Each fragrance draws inspiration from a particular place or artwork in a real city, and Georgiana herself wrote an “evocation,” or evocative text, for each one.

“Georgiana quite literally ‘bottled’ the spirit of specific places and buildings. With the help of specialist consultants, the brand’s young founder wrote the evocations that would form the foundations of her creations and selected compositions by leading French perfumers.”
— Official website

The fragrances are created by figures who have made their mark on perfume history. French perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour plays a central role. Since beginning his career in Grasse in 1985, this “master of niche perfumery” has collaborated with an illustrious roster of houses, including Amouage, Acqua di Parma, L’Artisan Parfumeur, Penhaligon’s, and Comme des Garçons. Georgiana met Duchaufour after asking a teacher at the Parma school for an introduction. He created most of the fragrances in both the Milan and London collections.

Bottle Design: The Graffiti-Can Revolution

The bottle is designed to look exactly like “a spray-paint can used for graffiti art.” It is the opposite of the delicate glass flacons favored by perfume brands. Its “streetwise, pop sensibility, far removed from the usual image of perfume,” made a powerful impact on the industry.

The functional choices are innovative too. Inside the can is a “360° Bag-on-Valve system”: a small bag within the aerosol can holds the fragrance. Because the bag is separated from the propellant, compressed air or nitrogen, the fragrance can be sprayed evenly from any angle and is less prone to deterioration. The technology is also environmentally friendly, allowing approximately 99% of the contents to be used.

A Commitment to Materials

Using a lower proportion of alcohol than conventional perfumes minimizes damage to hair and skin. According to Georgiana, the products in 2022 contained only about 20% alcohol, making them suitable for beards too and earning them a positive reception in the Middle Eastern market as an all-over fragrance. The formulas are paraben-free and contain moisturizing ingredients. Every product is made in Italy.

“Being made in Italy is a great strength. Sixty-five percent of the cosmetics sold in Europe are manufactured here, and it signifies premium quality.”
— Georgiana Mocanu

The collection explicitly presents itself as gender-free and suitable for all ages, aiming to create fragrances for every “tribe of urban dwellers.”

The Fragrance Range

Step Aboard organizes its fragrance collections by city, currently taking Milan, London, and Chicago as its three settings. All draw inspiration from real landmarks or artworks, with each “stop” corresponding to a fragrance.

The Milan Collection (2018)

Specific Milanese places and artworks were selected as five “imaginary subway stops.”

3D Sul Duomo: Inspired by the neon sculpture Lucio Fontana created for the 1951 Milan Triennale. The Museo del Novecento displays a 2010 reconstruction authorized by the Fondazione Lucio Fontana. Its vision is of “the past illuminated by the future,” with an aromatic, spicy, woody character.
Bosco Sospeso (Suspended Forest): A green woody creation inspired by greenery suspended from buildings in Milan. The perfumer is Bertrand Duchaufour.
Milano Centrale: A fragrance capturing the bustle of Milan Central Station and the moments when travelers’ paths intersect. The perfumer is Bertrand Duchaufour.
Cuoio di Thaon: An urban leather creation inspired by Via Thaon di Revel, lined with motorcycle shops and leather goods. It is composed of sweet orange, rum, carrot seed, iris, and suede. The perfumer is Bertrand Duchaufour. Known as one of the brand’s bestsellers, it was so popular that a 2022 interview reported it had sold out.
Menta sui Navigli: A mint and red-fruit fragrance evoking a summer night in the bar and club scene along the Navigli canals.

The London Collection (2021)

The second collection takes its concept from London’s Elizabeth line, whose development involved many artists. It was presented at Pitti Fragranze in 2021. Bertrand Duchaufour is the principal perfumer.

Transitions Gate: An expression of Canary Wharf’s urban rhythms in monochrome and grayscale. An aromatic opening of thyme and lavender settles into an architectural, dry fragrance of leather, cedarwood, and vetiver. The perfumer is Bertrand Duchaufour.
Sunday Street: A creation that imagines the diverse faces passing through the Underground station in Whitechapel as a collage of colorful, expressionist portraits. Its sweet, spicy character is oriental, gourmand, and woody. The perfumer is Bertrand Duchaufour.
Infinite Square: A fruity floral reflecting the red and mirror-polished steel of the Liverpool Street area. It is distinguished by a bright opening of yuzu and grapefruit and a woody trail that unfolds into driftwood and toffee.

The Chicago Collection (2023)

The third collection is inspired by Chicago, “a city like an open-air museum, a city of public art.” Each fragrance has a clearly identified artwork as its inspiration, and the entire collection is united by the concept of “wearing art set free in the city.”

Red Flamingo: Inspired by Alexander Calder’s red sculpture Flamingo, which stands in Chicago’s Federal Plaza in front of the Kluczynski Federal Building. A vivid citrus opening of mandarin and black tea leaves gives way to Taif rose and saffron, expressing the sculpture’s presence in three dimensions. The perfumer is Arthur Marrast.
Black & White: Taking Jean Dubuffet’s Monument with Standing Beast in front of Chicago’s James R. Thompson Center as its starting point, this floral musk explores black and white, contrast and dialogue. The perfumer is Luca Maffei.
Silver Cloud: Inspired by Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate in Chicago’s Millennium Park, this aromatic fragrance expresses “the self and others as facing mirrors” through mirror-like shifts in frankincense and the cool radiance of lavender and juniper. The perfumer is Bertrand Duchaufour.

An Interesting Aside…

Why a Romanian Founder Chose Milan as Her Setting: Georgiana Mocanu is herself an immigrant who moved from Romania to Italy at nineteen and built a career in fashion and art. Cosmopolitan Milan could be described as the “emotional home” from which she launched her brand. Her reason for choosing London for the second collection was similar: “because it is multicultural while retaining a genuinely British style.”

A Collaboration with a Japanese Artist: In August 2023, NOSE SHOP Shibuya hosted an exhibition by young artist Keeenue inspired by Step Aboard fragrances. In a first for the artist, each artwork received two titles: five scents became the starting points for five works and ten titles. “I gave each painting two different titles. Each has a fragrance that inspired its imagery, and the scents can be experienced alongside the paintings,” the artist explained. It was an example of the brand’s vision, in which graffiti art and fragrance emerge from a shared starting point, resonating with the Japanese art world as well.

A Pioneer of Bag-on-Valve: Step Aboard positions itself as “one of the first brands to propose, in 2018, the gesture of spraying fragrance over both the hair and the whole body.” While fragrances for both hair and body are becoming an increasingly common category in niche perfumery, Step Aboard takes pride in having been an early pioneer.

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