Caterina Catalani
Italian perfumer shaped by Grasse, Floris and AVAU, exploring materials through their origins and overlooked facets.
Italy
About Caterina Catalani
Caterina Catalani is an Italian perfumer who worked in fragrance development and bespoke perfumery at Floris London. At AVAU, launched with her brother Leonardo and sister Carolina in 2025, she is responsible for the fragrances.
Career
Her family has long worked in perfume: her grandparents ran the perfumery within the Vatican City pharmacy, and her parents established the distribution company Finmark. After studying business in Bath, she returned to the family company and recognised the need for a more structured olfactory education. She studied at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery, then spent about two years with Floris before developing the family brand.
Creative Style and Philosophy
Contact with growers and the work behind an ingredient matters to her as much as the finished material. She looks for overlooked aspects of familiar scents. In Golden Coast, for example, musk and Timut pepper accompany the softer, warmer side of grapefruit. Her experience moves between the classical framework of a heritage house and the greater freedom of a collection whose olfactory identity she shapes herself.
Signature Works
- *Lily* — A Floris fragrance expressing the natural beauty and dewy freshness of lily of the valley.
- *Petal Pop* — An AVAU fruity floral that she began first and completed last, refining its lively evolution through numerous trials.
