Esxence 10 - the golden edition

Esxence-The Scent of Excellence the annual exhibition devoted to artistic perfumery held in Milan, Italy on 5-8 April 2018 will celebrate ten years and this will also mark La Gardenia nell'Occhiello's 6th year as an official media partner. Last month I attended the Esxence-The Scent of Excellence 2018 press conference, which was held at the Park Hyatt Hotel, the glamourous Luxury 5 star hotels right on the side of the beautiful art nouveau arcades of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, so I'm going to tell you more about what are the news for this year's golden edition.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan

Maurizio Cavezzali, Equipe International President and Esxence co-founder opened the discussion. “We created the cult for artistic perfumery. Now the world looks to us to understand trends and recognize the major players of the sector. This involves a meticulous work of great research for an independent event that has been able to affirm itself with the top quality level of its proposals. Every year the 85% of the most relevant brands pass by here. Moreover Esxence represents the springboard for emerging brands aiming to be successful“.

In 2016, the Italian niche fragrance market with 200 million Euros revenues counted as 2% of the whole cosmetics industry: niche perfumery has grown by 60% compared to 2015. The data has been revealed during the conference to point out the great interest the niche industry is gathering. Esxence will feature more than 200 exclusive brands, from the consolidated Main Brand section (40% of the whole) to the Spotlight section for the newcomers (60%). Exhibitors from overseas will be the 70%, mainly from Europe, but also from the United States and Middle East.

Maurizio Cavezzali, Silvio Levi, Valentina Cagnola, Daniela Romagnoli

“Esxence has been able to shape international artistic perfumery becoming the most important meeting point and incubator for opportunities. It’s a reality that now involves hundreds of operators and thousands of passionate consumers. This has seen a two digits growth percentage for the sector’s revenues in ten years where Esxence has been inspiring and leading it, even defending it in the last years trying to keep standards high. Thanks to this effort, the quality of this perfumery has been more and more renowned, together with the customer awareness of its innovation and aesthetic content that allows us to talk about a true art. During the centuries perfume has passed from being a sinful perdition element, a devil’s expression to being not only accepted but becoming a way of expressing themselves and our own style. Others recognize us not only from our talk and look, but also by our fragrance”, added Silvio Levi.

Valentina Cagnola from Equipe International, the press office, spoke about the calendar of events for Esxence-The Scent of Excellence 2018, featuring discussions and conferences with: Perfume Expert and authority Michael Edwards and M.me Patricia de Nicolaï, master perfumer and president of the Osmothèque who will bring a conference about 100 years of the chypre family conducted by Bruno Hervé. There will be also a workshop on gourmands with Mouillettes & Co. In addition, two new books will be officially presented, the first about perfume history in Venice and the latter about the secrets of oud.
A special guest is Pierre Dinand, who returns after three years focus on flacons and packaging which also will be highlighted by special collaboration. The calling of Esxence for culture is strongly reconfirmed also because all the conferences will be free and accessible to everybody. The 2018 finalists of the Art and Olfaction Awards will be announced at the event and a panel discussing "Ten Years of Esxence" will be moderated by Sarah Colton and Karen Marin on the future of niche perfumery. You can find the complete Events calendar here.

Last year's party at Spazio Gessi

Daniela Romagnoli, who has been responsible for the communication of Esxence since its inception, has been appointed Art Director of the event. She pointed out how important was to remark the 10 years milestone, so this became the main theme itself. A collaboration with art students from Brera highlighted the Esxence logo that is connected to the map of Milan, and the importance of Esxence to the city. Blue, Esxence institutional color, and gold have been used to symbolize the connection of the event with excellence and luxury. The new skyline of Milan has been added to confirm the connection with The Mall, the location where Esxence has found its perfect dimension. Cavezzali and Levi also highlighted the importance of keeping constant the exhibitors number this way, always aiming for excellence now and in the future.

For the fourth consecutive year there is a spotlight on Esxkin – The Excellence of Beauty, the area dedicated to luxury skincare where the most exclusive international brands will introduce the latest innovations in beauty. See you in Milano for Esxence-The Scent of Excellence 2018.

Please finde the complete listing of Esxence-The Scent of Excellence 2018 Exhibitors here.