Cesare Augusto Stefani, a layman and nephew of the last Dominican friar to direct the Officina di Santa Maria Novella, formally registered the centuries-old Florentine pharmacy as a secular private enterprise in 1871 after Italy's post-unification suppression of religious orders.
Fieno (Hay)As modern medicine eroded demand for traditional herbal remedies, he steered the Officina toward cosmetics and fine fragrance, introducing the name Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella that remains its legal identity today.
Radiant luminosity and ethereal transparency. Kurkdjian's fragrances glow — they possess an inner light that makes them feel both airy and profound. His palette favors ambroxan, saffron, and delicate florals, composed with a musician's instinct for harmony.
234 creations
Refined elegance and measured sophistication. Polge's compositions for Chanel embodied the house's aesthetic — never too much, never too little, always precisely right. His fragrances have the quiet authority of impeccable tailoring.
76 creations
Noble materials and classical structure. Creed fragrances are built around the finest natural ingredients — ambergris, royal water, hand-selected musks — composed in the traditional infusion method that has defined the house for centuries.
54 creations