- Astrophil & Stella perfumes and colognes:
Country:Italy
Main activity:Fragrances
Brand website:link
Parent company:Gida Profumi
Astrophil & Stella is an Italian luxury fragrance brand that emerged from the artistic heart of Florence. Founded within the legendary “Maison d’Astrophil” established in 1912, it has a rich heritage. The brand name is inspired by the sonnet collection “Astrophil and Stella” by the 16th-century English poet Philip Sidney. This collection, using stars as a metaphor for the unattainable ideal love, symbolizes the humanist spirit of the Renaissance.
The brand’s debut fragrance in 2010 was a masterpiece created to commemorate the 420th anniversary of the poet Sidney's death, marking the beginning of the “Literary Aroma Trilogy.” Its creation is not about simply replicating classic scents but rather using smells to translate the conflicts in the poetry, such as “reason and fanaticism” and “the starry sky and the earthly world,” into an olfactory narrative. The perfumers draw inspiration from Dante's manuscripts in the Bargello Museum in Florence and the starry dome of the Duomo, aiming to capture “the moment when the human soul trembles upon looking up at the starry sky.”
The brand's fragrances are characterized by a unique blend of elements. They deliberately break away from the traditional “romantic floral” structure, using cold woods and mineral notes to reshape the poetic mood. The top notes are like the pure divinity of looking at the stars, the middle notes are the undercurrent of human desires, and the base notes return to the philosophical thinking of the chaos of heaven and earth. This contradictory temperament has been hailed as “an untamable sonnet” by “Perfume Review.”
The bottle design of Astrophil & Stella is a work of art. The bottles are crafted by the Murano glass workshops in Venice. The deep blue glass is embedded with fine gold foil and meteorite ash, mimicking the zodiac maps drawn by astronomers during the Renaissance. The bottle body has reliefs of letter patterns from Sidney's poetry collection, an olive branch (symbolizing the laurel crown of poetry) winds around the bottleneck, and a miniature bronze astrolabe is inlaid on the top of the bottle cap. Each bottle comes with a roll of antique parchment printed with fragments of the poet's own lines, enhancing its status as a “collectible work of art.”
In terms of application scenarios, these perfumes are perfect for places like a late-night study, a classical music concert, or an observatory stargazing ceremony. They appeal to those who are obsessed with literature and cosmology, as well as rebels in pursuit of “intellectual romance.” The spiritual core of these scents is not to please any gender or occasion but to question with fragrance - when human love will eventually fade like a meteor, should we still be willing to give our all for that fleeting brilliance?
Astrophil & Stella has redefined the boundaries of “literary fragrance” with its “Stella” perfume, transforming the abstract emotions of poetry into perceptible chemical molecules. Its limited editions have been collected by the British Library as “olfactory documents” and have appeared in special exhibitions at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, thus becoming an alternative continuation of the Renaissance spirit in the 21st century. As the perfumer said, “The real stars are not in the night sky but in every moment when mortals try to touch eternity.”
Today, Astrophil & Stella continues to expand its fragrance portfolio. With a total of 14 perfumes in its collection as of now, the brand collaborates with renowned perfumers such as Cécile Zarokian, Luca Maffei, Meo Fusciuni, Bertrand Duchaufour, and others. Each new release, like the recent “Mon Santal” in 2025, brings fresh olfactory experiences while still staying true to the brand's unique philosophy and aesthetic. Whether it's the warm and sweet “Amberlievable” with its blend of citrus, amber, and woods, or the elegant and mysterious “The Iris Way” featuring iris and vanilla, each fragrance tells a story and invites wearers to explore the rich world of scents created by Astrophil & Stella.
