Historic Italian perfume house Satinine has reopened in its home city with a new standalone boutique on Via Giuseppe Mengoni, just steps from Piazza Duomo in Milan. The brand, founded in 1883, has also launched a fresh collection of scents and revived its in-house production after more than two decades away from the market.

Satinine began as a perfumery laboratory created by Lorenzo Usellini, who moved from Arona on Lake Maggiore to Milan to import and sell toiletries before composing his own fragrances after World War I. In the 1930s the house gained international recognition with iconic perfumes such as Orchidea Nera and Caccia alla Volpe in elegant bottles produced by Vetrerie Bormioli.

Over the decades, the brand shifted toward licensing and developed fragrances for labels including Ferrari, Bottega Veneta and Borsalino, before disappearing from the market after bankruptcy in 2005. In 2024, entrepreneur Andrea Galletti and former Loewe president Ridgely Cinquegrana reacquired Satinine through Profumieri Milano S.r.l. and began its revival.

The new 70-square-metre boutique, named Officina, was designed by Mara Bragagnolo to reinterpret Milan’s architectural and perfumery traditions with contemporary flair. The space is divided into distinct areas — a porter’s lodge, a sensory room and a curatorial area — intended to make fragrance discovery a shared ritual. Interiors blend local materials like Lombard terracotta, glazed ceramic and cathedral glass with oak paneling, Cardinal marble and satin-finished steel details, all crafted by local artisans under soft, warm lighting.

Inside the boutique, Satinine displays a collection of 150 archival pieces from its heritage, including perfume bottles and historical materials. The brand has also opened a laboratory with in-house production, creating bespoke fragrances for other brands and hotel partners while debuting its own home fragrance line.

At the official opening, Satinine unveiled a new range of 21 fragrances developed in its laboratory using natural ingredients from Italian cultivars, with the aim of championing independent auteur perfumery distinct from French traditions. A new bottle design by Franz Degano, inspired by 1930s elegance, accompanies the collection.

Looking ahead, Satinine’s retail ambitions include international expansion, with potential openings in London, Japan and South Korea among the markets under consideration.