Tiziana Terenzi: Scents of Fire and Memory, Born from a Drop of Candle Wax

“My family let me choose” — Tiziana Terenzi, in her interview.

Contents

Essential Information
The Founders and the Origins of the Brand
What Matters to the Brand
The Fragrance Lineup
By the Way…

Essential Information

Founded: 2012 (the preceding candle business was established in 1968)

Founders: Tiziana Terenzi (older sister and artistic director) / Paolo Terenzi (younger brother and perfumer)

Based in: Cattolica, in the province of Rimini, Italy

Official website: https://tizianaterenzi.com/en/

The Founders and the Origins of the Brand

The Terenzi Family: A History Dating Back to 1400

To tell the story of Tiziana Terenzi, we must turn the clock back as far as the fifteenth century. The Terenzi family traces its roots to Gabriele Terenzi, who lived in Cattolica in the 1400s. Since then, members of the family have made their name in many different fields, as leaders, explorers, inventors, cavalry officers, musicians and poets.

Grandfather Guglielmo: The First Step into Fragrance (1950s)

The Terenzi family’s connection with fragrance began in the time of Tiziana and Paolo’s grandfather, Guglielmo Terenzi. In the 1950s, Guglielmo began making devotional, or votive, candles for local churches. The work of supplying candles to the Vatican and churches elsewhere marked the beginning of a deep involvement with fragrance.

Father Evelino: From a 16-Square-Metre Workshop to the European Market (1968 Onwards)

Guglielmo’s son, Evelino Terenzi, took over his father’s work and formally established the company as Cereria Terenzi in 1968, together with his wife Luigia Mancini. The original workshop measured just 16 square metres, but a history began to unfold from that tiny space.

Evelino’s remarkable innovation was the invention of cake candles made from plant-derived materials. This invention allowed Cereria Terenzi to grow rapidly, becoming a candle manufacturer with more than 90% of the European market. Evelino was also a great lover of the sea, known as an accomplished sailor, and would exert a strong influence on the later collections.

The Siblings’ Childhood: Blindfold Games as “Perfumer Training”

As children, the siblings played blindfolded scent-guessing games with their grandfather, a memory recounted in their 2021 interview.

Paolo’s “Bohemian Years” and a Turning Point

Paolo, the younger brother, travelled while playing guitar. He also studied law and philosophy and explored chemistry and physics.

At 25, he recognised perfumery as his path. The family business later made candles for Acqua di Parma and Ferragamo, among others, as discussed in another interview.

Older Sister Tiziana: An Eye for Beauty Developed in Jewellery Design

Tiziana, meanwhile, chose to study jewellery. She now contributes through the bottles and packaging.

2012: The Siblings Come Together and the Brand Is Born

In 2012, the fragrance brand Tiziana Terenzi was launched in Cattolica, Italy. Tiziana took responsibility for creative direction and visuals, while Paolo composed the fragrances, extending their work beyond the family candle business.

Paolo says their creative disagreements prompt daily discussions, in the 2021 interview.

What Matters to the Brand

The Philosophy: Imperfect Beauty Is Life Itself

In his Style of Eurasia interview, Paolo discusses translating travel, changing scenery and emotion into scent, valuing life’s imperfections rather than pursuing perfection.

A Commitment to Ingredients: Materials Governed by Season and Weather

Tiziana says weather and seasons constrain ingredient supplies.

In her 2020 interview, Tiziana describes relationships with suppliers continuing from her father’s generation to their children. Those longstanding connections also support the materials behind the fragrances.

The main perfumes are offered as extraits de parfum, or perfume extracts: highly concentrated fragrances. Some high-concentration creations are described as having fragrance concentrations of around 30%. Concentration varies by creation, however, and they cannot all be described as having “about twice” the concentration of an ordinary extrait de parfum.

Bottles and Packaging: “An Artwork Does Not Accept Compromises”

Paolo credits Tiziana with the logo, bottles and packaging. His Style of Eurasia interview also mentions her use of watercolour for the logo.

Gold ornament, sculptural stoppers and velvet boxes extend the individual collections’ visual themes to their presentation.

Every Fragrance Is Unisex

All Tiziana Terenzi fragrances are offered as unisex, without a distinction between men and women. Creating fragrances around emotional resonance, rather than “for him” or “for her,” embodies the brand’s philosophy of scent as a means of self-expression.

The Fragrance Lineup

Tiziana Terenzi’s collections are divided into several lines, each with its own theme and design language.

The Classic Collection

The brand’s foundational line is broadly divided into gold and black bottles. Some bottle caps use high-quality wood from the Apennine Mountains, and the fragrances explore the symbolic power of fire and the emotions it evokes. Well-known examples include Kirké, inspired by a nature park of woodland and dunes said to be inhabited by a goddess from Greek mythology, and White Fire, expressing the stillness of snow in the Dolomites.

The Luna Collection

This series, almost synonymous with the brand itself, explores the mysteries of the moon and the constellations. Its bottle stoppers carry bas-reliefs inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s studies of the moon’s phases, with Italian jewellery-making techniques incorporated throughout. The Luna Collection has developed further into the Luna Stars Collection, and the creations bear the names of constellations and mythological figures. Representative fragrances include Andromeda, Cassiopea, Orion and Ursa.

Orion, for example, was created from a memory of Paolo and Tiziana going out on the Adriatic by boat with their father and grandfather on a summer night, when their grandfather pointed out the constellation Orion in the darkness.

Luna also draws on Orlando Furioso’s image of earthly losses preserved on the moon, linking perfume-wearing with rediscovering cherished memories. Behind the collection lay a private group of fragrances made for the siblings themselves. More than twenty years spent finding and safeguarding rare ingredients preceded its initial presentation as five fragrances.

The Sea Stars Collection

An affectionate collection created by Tiziana to celebrate her younger brother Paolo’s fiftieth birthday. It is grounded in their profound love of the Adriatic, inherited from their father Evelino, and memories of their seafaring father’s love of the ocean. Each bottle is crowned with a golden starfish stopper, and the fragrances have names associated with the sea or navigation. Known as a particularly expensive line within the brand’s collections, its elaborate presentation goes so far that Atlantide is displayed and sold with the perfume bottle submerged in a vessel of real seawater.

The Anniversary Collection

This collection can be regarded as the most purist expression of the brand’s philosophy. It makes use of the individual character of natural ingredients harvested each year, so that even the same recipe takes on a slightly different face annually. Like vintage wine, each year’s edition becomes a separate collector’s item. Each bottle bears its year of production, and quantities are limited. The brand’s commitment to avoiding artificial intervention and pursuing “nature’s purity” finds its strongest expression in the Anniversary Collection. Representative creations include Bigia, Il Piacere and Vittoriale.

By the Way…

Music and Scent Paolo compares a scent’s development to music.

The Japanese Debut Came in 2024
Having won the support of niche-fragrance enthusiasts around the world, Tiziana Terenzi officially debuted in Japan on June 18, 2024, at NOSE SHOP’s Azabudai and Ginza locations and online store. The Japanese launch comprised ten fragrances, with 100 mL extraits de parfum priced from ¥44,000 to ¥110,000, including tax.

Coexisting with the Candle Business
The candle business continues today alongside Tiziana Terenzi as a fragrance brand. Its lineup even includes candles advertised as having a high fragrance concentration of 20%, preserving the company’s connection with the world of scent.

References