MILAN — Milan’s artistic perfumery show Esxence — The Scent of Excellence has reached a maturity phase.
After a decade, the fair has consolidated its reputation as an international platform spotlighting niche fragrance labels and its gearing for its 11th edition adding new initiatives to its offer.
Running April 25 to 28 at “The Mall” venue in the Porta Nuova district, the trade show will be included in a weeklong schedule of events aimed at promoting the olfactory culture across the streets of Milan. Kicking off on April 22 and dubbed “Milan Fragrance Week,” the initiative will mainly involve the Brera, Garibaldi and Porta Nuova areas, where exhibitions, installations workshops, concerts and interactive events celebrating perfumery will be hosted.
“We want to create an opportunity for us and for the whole city and make the world of fragrances accessible to everybody,” said Esxence cofounder Silvio Levi, underscoring that “a scent is an instinctive language that everyone can understand.”
Esxence will coordinate the events and support the program in terms of communication, which will be channeled both off-line and on social media.
The project is in sync with the trade’s annual theme, named “Inspiration Flow.” The concept is to favor the exchange of ideas and inspirations also outside the walls of the show venue, which will continue to display both established brands and emerging labels, 80 percent of which hailing from Europe, the U.S. and Middle East.
“In the last 10 years a lot has happened and we can be proud for many reasons,” Levi said. “Today brands, buyers, distributors can meet in one place and talk, share opinions and ideas. They now have joined forces and reinforced the identity of this category. That’s one of our biggest achievements.”
In addition to Esxence’s business vocation, Levi’s partner Maurizio Cavezzali underscored the resonance of its educational mission, as he believes “culture is the future of trade shows.”
In keeping with this spirit, the fair will continue to offer a rich schedule of free and open-to-public lectures, talks and workshops at The Mall.
Members of Versailles-based international perfumes’ conservatory Osmothéque will host a lecture on rare or extinguished raw materials, while “Fragrance of the World” writer Michael Edwards and anthropologist Annick Le Guérer will be among the special guests holding workshops. Additional lectures will analyze the American and German markets, the role of social media and influence of artificial intelligence on the niche fragrance business and the importance of the artisanal heritage of niche brands in a digital era. In addition, young master perfumer Alex Lee will hold a webinar in collaboration with French company Les Parfumables that will be followed by attendees in the conference hall at The Mall, as well as by 300 people connected online across the globe.
In recent years, Italy has shown an increasing interest towards artistic perfumery, which has registered sales of more than 250 million euros last year, accounting for 2.5 percent of the Italian beauty business.
Similarly, Italian beauty customers are increasingly invested in niche cosmetic products. To meet this demand, Esxence evolved its Esxkin corner dedicated to international indie beauty brands into a wider and separate area, dubbed “Experience Lab” and housed at Villa Quarzo, a four-storied location few steps away from The Mall.
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