Giovanni Festa
A Naples-born perfumer and founder of Aulentissima, whose fragrances evoke places and memories.
Italy
About Giovanni Festa
Giovanni Festa is an Italian perfumer from Naples and the founder of Aulentissima. His fragrances draw on places, stories and memories, giving the house a distinctly narrative approach.
Career
Born in Naples in 1964, Festa founded the cosmetics company Galeno Officine Cosmetiche in 1990. His work brought together cosmetics, research and an interest in raw materials. Travels in search of essences helped shape his approach to fragrance. He began the Aulentissima project in 2017; the house says its first collection was launched in 2019. Based in Naples, it presents perfume as a meeting of imagination and the careful study of materials.
Creative Style & Philosophy
Aulentissima describes perfume as a form of narration. Festa’s compositions are intended to evoke places and intimate states of mind, from summer gardens to stories of love and remembrance. Rather than treating an ingredient as an isolated subject, the house places it within a wider sensory scene. This interest in memory connects his own collection with the stories he has interpreted for other brands.
Signature Works
- *Osang* — Created for Mendittorosa and inspired by a story associated with Naples’ Saint Gennaro. It reached the finals of the 2018 Art and Olfaction Awards.
- *Capodimonte* — An Aulentissima fragrance evoking the wooded hill of that name in Naples.