There is an Italy that is told through the perfumes, transforming territories, memories and traditions into olfactory experiences capable of crossing the borders. It is that of the artistic and niche perfumery, protagonist on 22 October in New York of the second edition of AURA – An Exhibition of Extraordinary Italian Scents, the event organized by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) in collaboration with Esxence – The Art Perfumery Event.
To host the event was the evocative setting of ASPIRE, on the 102° floor of the One World Trade Center, where 30 Italian brands presented their creations to buyers, distributors, journalists and professionals of the American sector.
An event that, after the debut of 2025, consolidates its presence in the panorama of events dedicated to high-end perfumery, confirming the growing interest of the American market for a segment of Made in Italy that combines creativity, research and artisan tradition.
Compared to the first edition, which had brought together 23 Italian brands and more than 300 operators in the sector, AURA has recorded this year a significant increase of the participating companies, passed to 30, with an increase of approximately 30%.
An evolution that testifies to the will of an increasing number of Italian companies to face the US market, considered one of the most important commercial outlets for the industry.
To emphasize the success of the initiative was Erica Di Giovancarlo, Italian Trade Commissioner and Executive Director for the USA of the Italian Trade Agency, who, interviewed by New York during the event, highlighted the results of this second edition.
“I feel like saying that this second edition is having a success even higher than last year. We have a greater number of Italian companies participating and a decidedly large audience,” he said.
“Here we present the fragrances of 30 companies, a production of niche very particular, natural, that expresses the creativity and art of Italian know-how. With these products we and companies want to create emotions. I think this is really the main objective, because emotion is remembered and leaves the sign”.
Words that return the deepest meaning of the initiative: to promote not only a product, but a heritage of competence, sensitivity and cultural identity.
“They are all companies from the various regions of Italy, with a truly excellent production. Once again we present the top of Made in Italy”, added Di Giovancarlo.
The Italian artistic perfumery is an area in which the economic dimension is intertwined with the cultural dimension.
Every fragrance tells a story: from the Mediterranean atmospheres to the landscapes of the islands, from the regional botanists to the suggestions of the cities of art. A creative universe in which the Italian manufacturing tradition meets contemporary experimentation.
A value also recognized by the Consul General of Italy in New York, Giuseppe Pastorelli, present at the event, which stressed the contribution of these companies to the promotion of the Italian image in the United States.
“It is a beautiful initiative of the ICE to promote Italian artistic perfumery. We are talking about thirty companies that are very connected to the territory, which bring their art, their mastery and their knowledge here to New York, in a segment that is growing and that contributes to strengthening Made in Italy in this country”, said the Consul General to the microphones of New York.
Pastorelli then recalled the value of relations between Italy and the United States, highlighting that the commercial dimension is only one of the elements of a wider relationship.
“Italy and the United States are friendly countries. Relations are based on the relationship between people and the exchange of goods. It is important that there is also an exchange of experiences in this report. And what better experience of Italian fragrances here in New York? ».
A reflection that places AURA in a broader perspective: that of economic and cultural diplomacy, in which production excellence becomes instruments of dialogue and approach between countries.
The growth of interest in niche fragrances is particularly favourable for the Italian industry.
According to data on the occasion of the event, the Italian market of niche perfumery has an estimated value of approximately 450 million dollars, representing approximately one third of the national sector of high-end perfumery.
In 2025, Italian perfume exports reached approximately $3.17 billion, an increase of 6.4% compared to the previous year, after the particularly sustained growth recorded in 2024.
The United States represents a fundamental destination: in 2024 they absorbed approximately 503 million dollars of Italian exports of perfumes, pairs approximately 18% of the total world.
Numbers explaining the importance of initiatives such as AURA, capable of creating a direct link between Italian producers and American market operators.
Maurizio Cavezzali, co-founder of Esxence, the Milanese event that has become one of the main international points of reference for artistic perfumery over the years.
“This is the event where we are,” said Cavezzali at New York, commenting on the second edition of AURA.
“Why are we here in New York? Because the Italian industry of niche perfumery wants to be present also in the US market, which is an important market, where really the olfactory culture will have an incredible future”.
A vision that looks beyond the single manifestation and interprets the American market as a space of growth for an area where the value of the product is increasingly linked to its uniqueness, creative research and the ability to tell a story.
AURA was not only an opportunity for a commercial meeting.
The event proposed a multisensory path designed to enhance the relationship between perfume, art and emotions, transforming the presentation of fragrances into an immersive experience.
Among the distinctive elements of the program, the participation of the dancers of the Joffrey Ballet School, protagonists of a performance conceived to interpret through the movement the different olfactory identities of the Italian perfumery.
To complete the route, Scent in Bloom, the sensory installation presented by Esxence in collaboration with the Italian Perfumery Institute, conceived as an olfactory garden in which nature, fragrances and perception meet.
A choice that reflects the evolution of the sector itself: perfume is no longer just a personal accessory, but it becomes an expressive language, an experience and, more and more often, a form of art.
The day alternated an afternoon session dedicated to B2B meetings, with the participation of US buyers and professionals, to an evening reception that brought together companies, institutional representatives and protagonists of the sector.
The success of the second edition of AURA highlights a wider transformation in the way Made in Italy presents itself on international markets.
Alongside the compartments traditionally associated with Italian excellence, from fashion to design, from food and wine to jewellery, the artistic perfumery is gaining an increasingly recognizable space.
A sector consisting also of small and medium-sized enterprises, often deeply linked to the territories of origin, which find in the quality of raw materials, in the creative identity and in the artisan attention the distinctive elements of their competitiveness.
For these realities, the US market is an important opportunity, but also a challenge that requires visibility, business relationships and a thorough knowledge of local distribution dynamics.
It is precisely on this ground that initiatives such as AURA can play a strategic role, facilitating the encounter between Italian production and American interlocutors.
From the top of the One World Trade Center, with Manhattan skyline as a backdrop, the second edition of the event returned the image of an Italian industry capable of renewing itself without losing the link with its roots.
An industry that, as Erica Di Giovancarlo recalled, not only aims to sell a product, but to create emotions.
Because a fragrance can tell a territory, evoke a memory and cross a culture. And for this reason, to become one of the most immediate and universal languages of Made in Italy.
L’articolo The Made in Italy conquers New York with its perfumes: the success of AURA at the One World Trade Center comes from IlNewyorkese.
