Initio

“Initio” is a Latin word, we are told, with two meanings: “the origin” and “initiation” – and this renegade new perfume house aims to “initiate perfume as an object of power.”

First unveiled in 2015, the French perfume house has shrouded itself in mystery. Artistic director Sonia (her last name is a secret) prefers to talk about the influence of Patrick Suskind's book 'Perfume' – and the power of perfume

As she puts it: 'In the beginning, in ancient Egyptian times, perfume was used for everything but smelling good. It was used to create magic, to attract love, to purify the home, to communicate with the gods, to heal, to cleanse the body. Even to this day, in some countries there is a culture of using perfumes to cleanse and purify – for example, in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia. Even in the Middle East, where they know perfume better than anyone, perfume is still used as an object of power.'

Initio Parfums seeks to share the animal potential and the role of perfume as an 'invisible pheromonal force' – but does so through very beautiful scents, in collaboration with leading perfumers including Constantin Gueros, Alexandra Kosinski and the legendary Alberto Morillas and Maurice Roucel.