An elegant and discreet metal doorbell reading “Casa Profumoir” and “Giardino” flanks a wooden door of a historical palazzo nestled in Florence’s San Niccolò neighborhood — a stone’s throw from Piazzale Michelangelo — giving access to a new, exclusive hospitality address for fragrance aficionados and others.
Designed as a real home, Casa Profumoir is part of the larger Profumoir project, as it adds to the eponymous retail space located a few steps down the road and offers a unique olfactory atelier centered around experimentation and custom services.
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This is the result of a three-year-long process set in motion when the late designer Roberto Cavalli’s son Daniele acquired a majority stake in niche fragrance label Sileno Cheloni, which was established by the namesake master perfumer in 2018.
United by their passion for research into rare raw materials, the duo joined forces for a beauty venture aimed at spotlighting the high artistic craftsmanship behind fragrance-making — but on their own terms, without giving in to frequent product launches or fast-paced beauty cycles.
“If it took me a while to [launch Profumoir], it was more out of my necessity, because in its simplicity this industry has a big complexity, which is the entire production part,” Cavalli told WWD. “So I needed time to understand it, because you enter the alchemical world of formulations and the whole knowledge behind it.
“Plus, it was out of my meticulousness,” he continued. “My dream was working on a potentially timeless product, one where you can’t tell if it was created yesterday or 100 years ago, and that could attract a [wide] audience of any nationality, young or not so much. So it was important to build strong pillars since the beginning.”
Cavalli’s previous stints and multidisciplinary interests played a key part in his mission. “I come from the fashion world, including its frenzy and also its unstoppable consumerism and hysteria in always creating new concepts and new products,” said the entrepreneur, who was creative director of Roberto Cavalli’s menswear line from 2011 to 2014. “And when I stepped into the world of fragrances, I was sure that I could give a lot, perhaps because the great lesson I learned from fashion was the ability to create the dream and a sort of loyalty to a brand.”
He used these skills to help enhance Cheloni’s craft and taste, which he said has a strong affinity with his own. “When you create a scent, it’s difficult then to remove it from a collection. The brand will carry it forever,” said Cheloni. “So creating something that could be everlasting took us some time… And to enable Daniele to fully partake in the creative process, it was right to wait for him to better understand this world. Three years has been long but they were all needed.”
Even more than products, experiences are at the core of Profumoir’s ethos. Its jewel in the crown is an hourlong private session at the so-called Olfactory Organ, which grants exclusive access to 198 primary notes, numbered and divided into single essences, bases and accords, all selected by Cheloni. Each guest is invited to discover the essences through an instinctive exploration guided by a specialist or Cheloni himself, aimed at choosing favorite notes and creating a bespoke fragrance. This comes in a 100-ml. bottle with a Carrara marble cap, customized name and a certificate. Sessions range in price from 280 euros to 600 euros.
A more approachable option is offered by the Olfactory Library, which encourages the discovery of the basics in perfumery through a selection of 40 scents based on notes of rare and precious citrus, flowers, aromas, spices, woods, gourmands and fruits from around the world.
The pinnacle of Cheloni’s creation is O.R.I.G.I.N.E, a line of seven fragrances that represent the origins of perfumery for the perfumer and are conceived to be worn singularly or in combination, encouraging fragrance layering. Inspired by Cheloni’s travels, the collection is named after the notes involved: oud, rose, incense, jasmin — or gelsomino, in Italian – iris, neroli and elemi. Each scent is available in a 50-ml. format or a 10-ml. size when offered as part of a discovery set.
“Profumoir is simply the evolution of what Cheloni was already starting to build,” said Cavalli. “More than a brand, it aims to be a platform that can be experienced through collecting its products, playing with scents or just discovering the raw materials behind it,” he said, highlighting that the educational side of the business has drawn many customers — including teenagers and kids — to the store so far.
While the retailer also offers workshops and incense ceremonies, the discovery aspect is embedded in Casa Profumoir, too. For one, the house features a charming courtyard and a lush aromatic garden ending with an extraction chamber replete with alembics, historically used for the distillation of essential oils.
The rest of the space offers an intimate and cozy haven from the city’s frenzy, with refined rooms dominated by dim lighting, mid-blue and sage walls, dark wood cabinets displaying crystal bottles of scents and essential oils as well as arty pieces punctuating each room.
For example, the master bedroom features an artistic skylight developed with historic Florentine master glassmakers Polloni and a painting representing the three Parches weaving the thread of life. An antique brass queen-size bed, dark wood furniture and fabrics in shades of blue and gray add to the space, which is flanked by a large bathroom furnished with custom-made marble pieces.
A separate entrance leads directly into the living area, where a bright dining room opens onto an octagonal solid wood table, while oriental rugs and Venetian mirrors adorn the living room, replete with a fireplace and an opium bed for meditation or private incense ceremonies.
Guests can book the entire property or a single overnight stay in the room, but a minimum two-night stay is suggested as it also includes the Olfactory Organ experience. Additional services range from massages and private guides around Florence to home-served dinners exclusively curated by Atelier de’ Nerli, another of Cavalli’s entrepreneurial ventures.
The Florentine restaurant-cum-art-gallery was actually where Cavalli and Cheloni first tested their partnership, collaborating on the customized scent for the space.
Other projects Cavalli launched through the years range from a recording studio to an art collective operating at the intersection of photography, design and sculpture.
“Now the evolution is to have all these projects under one umbrella,” said Cavalli about the sensory puzzle he has assembled by exploring the worlds of smell, taste, sound, sight and touch. “Hospitality is the first step to contain all these.”
Yet opening another Casa Profumoir outpost is not one of Cavalli’s top priorities. An expert in marketing, branding and communication, he intends to focus on scaling Profumoir’s retail footprint and boosting its awareness via content creation and storytelling. In addition, he eyes a product expansion to include home fragrances and accessories such as precious scented boxes and jewelry to experience perfumes in a different way.
Cheloni is ready to contribute to the goal. The nose, who has previously collaborated on private label initiatives with the likes of Harrods, served as consultant on olfactory projects with Lamborghini and Baglioni Hotels & Resorts, and developed partnerships with players ranging from Gianvito Rossi and IWC Schaffhausen to Richard Ginori 1735 and Renault. And now, he feels the need “to go back having fun with perfumes.
“Not having my name linked to the brand anymore, I feel freer and more comfortable in experimenting, which is something I haven’t done for a while on a personal level and it’s giving me a lot of satisfaction,” said Cheloni, revealing he’s exploring custom fragrance creation connected to tarot readings at the moment. “This hasn’t resulted in a product yet, but it might open a [new door] for the future.”