A 2016 full of fragrance

Accademia del Profumo gathers the fruits of tradition and the challenges of the future. Thus Straordinario Sentire, the narrative promotional space dedicated to the perfume culture, comes into being. Announcement of the imminent opening of an itinerant olfactory path in the oldest botanical gardens in Italy and, dulcis in fundo, the nominations of the Accademia del Profumo Award 2016, which will receive broad coverage in our magazine.

Accademia del Profumo came into being in 1990. Its mission today is to highlight perfume as an essential element of wellbeing, promote its creativity, spread the culture and popularity of the same. It is formed by the perfume producer and distributor companies that are Cosmetica Italia associates, as well as companies that produce essences and packaging materials, opinion leaders and communication and distribution experts.
During a long awaited press conference, held 12 December last in the elegant hotel Château Monforte, Milan, the President of Accademia del Profumo, Luciano Bertinelli - on stage along with TV anchor woman Filippa Lagerback - revealed to journalists and select guests a full program of undertakings and projects scheduled for 2016.
This will be a year of renewal, in both cultural terms and in terms of image, starting from the claim of the new media campaign, “Straordinario Sentire”, that declares the centrality of emotion, the sole key for accessing the world of perfumery in its most authentic of forms and essences.

The communication side of things has also been updated, with a platform that exploits new languages and channels (social networks, audiovisual media, viral contents and Apps) to arouse the interest of the public and present Accademia del Profumo in a glamour cladding that is up with the times.
Numerous the projects undertaken to promote the combination between perfume, art and awareness.
After the successful cooperation with the Museum of Perfume, Venice (to be featured), with the 35th Comast, Ferrara, and the 2nd edition of the “Professione Olfatto” course in fragrances, Accademia del Profumo offers university study grants for special projects dedicated to the world of fragrance.

Straordinario Sentire
Or that is a trilogy of perfume in three acts: great new feature for 2016, the itinerant olfactory path, to be hosted in the coming three years by the oldest botanical gardens in Italy.
The Brera Botanical Gardens of Milan’s Università degli Studi (from 16 to 19 June 2016) and the Botanical Gardens of the University of Florence (from 9 to 11 2016) will offer a majestic backdrop to a sensorial tale that explores the most important aspects of the perfumers’ art along the entire supply chain.
«The botanical gardens have been chosen as the ideal setting for this path – explains Luciano Bertinelli, president of Accademia del Profumo - not only because of the fact that the raw materials used in making the essences grow in these microcosms, but also to draw attention to unjustly neglected, true and proper jewels immersed in the urban fabric, at times unknown to the general public. At the basis of the project hence there is also an ethical and social intent».

As mentioned, the olfactory path takes place in three acts.
Act I, Emotion: awe-striking setup that follows the timespan of life via the scents of childhood, adolescence and maturity, but also olfactory experiences tied to travel and relax.
Act II, Evolution: story of perfume in the contemporary era, in which particular social, historic and political moments are reflected in the olfactory choices of the consumers.
Act III, Awareness: ‘backstage’ perfume tour, from the first briefing to the creation of the fragrances, packaging design and communication, up to reaching the shelves of the perfumeries. Without overlooking aspects of fair trade, ethical sourcing, biodiversity and recovering resources.