Xenia Koneva

After the last gigantic and megalomaniac edition of Esxence, it's impossible to come to a conclusion about trends and ideas within this very broad sense of niche perfumery presented in Milan. However, among this ocean of fragrances and people, some illustrations come to mind. The notion of niche perfumery as a business has changed a lot. I have been visiting Esxence for 10 years now, and things have changed for sure.

Ambre Miellé by Graham & Pott is the latest offering which came into my hands and impressed me favorably, setting off 2023 with a bang. I didn't have the chance to try it out at Pitti, where it launched last year in Florence alongside the British niche brand's other scents, Améthyste Sereine and Sun King. (More about Graham & Pott can be read in my overview of the brand.) This is probably what they saw, and they obligingly gave me the opportunity to try it out all the same.

I guess 2022 was somewhat of a transitional year, both in the world in general and in the realm of perfumery. Most designer/mainstream launches are well-crafted and quite pleasurable to smell and wear, in my opinion, and while being a bit let down by some repetitiveness in terms of compositions and trends, I appreciated the effort of some major brands in creating more natural fragrances, giving space to innovative materials.