Masque Milano: Theatrical Artistic Perfumery from Milan

Italian artistic perfume house founded in Milan in 2010 by Alessandro Brun and Riccardo Tedeschi. Each fragrance is conceived as a scene from a musical work: compositions rich in narrative, crafted from quality raw materials and entrusted to emerging international noses, each of whom is credited by name on the bottle.

History and philosophy

Masque Milano was born in 2010 from the collaboration between Alessandro Brun — a lecturer at the Politecnico di Milano with a background spanning poetry, music, and luxury management — and Riccardo Tedeschi, an electronic engineer who studied classical guitar and built his professional career at houses including Dior, Guerlain, and Acqua di Parma. After years of research into essences in Grasse and Italian artisan workshops, the two founders shaped a project that unites olfactory culture with made-in-Italy craftsmanship.

The brand's narrative framework is that of the melodrama: each fragrance corresponds to a scene or an act, and the entire output is organised into thematic collections exploring different facets of human experience — travel, emotion, dreams, memory. The bottles, made in collaboration with Bormioli of Parma and hand-finished in Milan with turned wooden caps crafted by local artisans, bear the name of the perfumer who created the composition engraved upon them — a degree of transparency that remains uncommon in the industry.

The style

Masque Milano fragrances are distinguished by their compositional density and photorealistic approach: raw materials — resins, tea, leather, musks, Mediterranean florals — are deployed to evoke places and atmospheres with an almost tactile precision. The brand works with a broad and ever-changing roster of international noses, favouring emerging talents from the world of artistic perfumery, among them Cécile Zarokian, Vanina Muracciole, Delphine Thierry, Cristiano Canali, and many others. Olfactory families range from spiced oriental and aquatic aromatic to modern chypre and structured floral.

• Opera Collection — the heart of the brand, divided into four acts corresponding to four thematic spheres: travel, relationships, dreams, and sensory memories.
• Le Donne di Masque — a collection launched for the brand's tenth anniversary, created exclusively by female perfumers and dedicated to female figures.
• Ruby Collection — a line that reinterprets several iconic compositions in an oudised register, incorporating precious ingredients such as oud.
• Emerald Collection — the most recent addition, extending the repertoire into new olfactory families.

The most celebrated fragrances

Across a catalogue of more than thirty fragrances, certain compositions have earned lasting recognition among lovers of artistic perfumery worldwide.

• Tango — created by Cécile Zarokian (2013); a spiced oriental of amber, cardamom, cumin, Turkish rose, and woods. Rich and sensual in structure, inspired by the atmosphere of a late-night dance.
• Russian Tea — smoky black tea, fresh mint, and raspberry notes over a base of leather and birch. A photorealistic, long-lasting composition and one of the most frequently cited among the fragrance community.
• Kintsugi — created by Vanina Muracciole; a modern chypre with suede, magnolia, rose, bergamot, and patchouli. Inspired by the Japanese art of repairing with gold.
• Dolceacqua — a Mediterranean floral built around a sea breeze accord, lily of the valley, white roses, and musks; evoking the Ligurian Riviera.
• Petra — a resinous, spiced composition inspired by the ancient Nabataean city, with frankincense and patchouli as the leading notes.