Interview with Gabriella Chieffo

by: Serguey Borisov

Gabriella Chieffo, founder of the brand

I planned an appointment for the interview with Gabriella Chieffo days before the Esxence2015 exhibition. I was impressed by the announcement of the new Acquasala made for us by Elena Vosnaki. In Milan I smelled the perfume and talked to Gabriella. The idea was so complex that we continued our conversation after the exhibition, when I came home.

Serguey Borisov:
What's the main idea of your brand, Gabriella Chieffo?

Gabriella Chieffo:
Gabriella Chieffo is a brand of artistic perfumery that has managed to distinguish itself, quickly becoming a “niche within a niche” thanks to its strong covalent bond with art. In fact, it is without doubt the first brand that builds its own identity on a profound interaction with art, it is completely art-inspired.

Everything in the Gabriella Chieffo brand was designed to communicate this synergy, this absolute fusion with every known kind of art; everything is art for Gabriella Chieffo, not only in attentive research of unusual and atypical harmonies of fragrances, but also in the visual identity of the brand itself: from the packaging, to the design, to the look.

We are pioneers in many ways, from the design and construction of exhibition stands, to the caps, to room fragrances, to the last guerilla theatre allowing us to "smell the scents" in a different way. And if on the one hand this is rewarding, seeing as many influential partners have chosen us, thereby acknowledging this extreme artistic side, on the other hand many things that "resemble" ours are starting to become available.

From a strictly conceptual point of view, the brand is born from emotions and from emotions takes its lifeblood to regenerate itself every time in each creation. It is a brand that was founded on the memories and fragrant associations that the memory creates, that has now come to a more mature awareness and knowledge of itself with the birth of Acquasala.

Serguey Borisov:
When did you decide to start the perfume brand? You are not a couturier, and not a socialite, nor a perfumer. What made you feel like “I want to start make perfumes?”

Gabriella Chieffo:I like to start with "Who I AM NOT."
I AM NOT a fashion designer.
I AM NOT a socialite.
I AM NOT a perfumer.
And I AM definitely NOT an ordinary person!

I AM an an entrepreneur who, after many years of being the CEO of an important public company in the Renewable Energy sector, decided to give space to my artistic side, channeling my energy in artistic perfumery. I AM used to hard work, setting goals and working tirelessly to achieve them, even when it comes to one of my “creative passions!” This is how it happened with artistic perfumery: I started with passion and took a training course that will allow me, in the future, to introduce myself as a “Nose.”

Serguey Borisov:
I feel your perfumes are like Italian films of the 60-70s that showed the lives of beautiful Italian women (Anna, Gina, Sophia, Silvana, Monica, Claudia), but by olfactory means. Their characters are so different. How do you choose the themes for every perfume?

Gabriella Chieffo:
I'm flattered by the association with these women and with these strong personalities of Italian excellence! Honestly, when I imagined my perfumes, I was inspired by the contemporary "made in Italy," built on design, shapes, conceptual contrasts. The Gabriella Chieffo brand is future-oriented and at the same time is strong in its roots, even though it paradoxically manages to be timeless, through stories and emotions that go beyond the limits of time and that are profoundly different. 

Each fragrance has its own personal story, I am not the one that chooses ... The creative process, as you know, is quite complex: with Collection '14,  I felt the need to describe myself, to describe the intimate visions of experiences that have shaped my life. Lye, Camaheu, Ragù, Hystera, are fragrant fragments of my life, pieces of my development. The last fragrance, Acquasala, that introduces the chapter of introspection, marked for me an evolution, an aware and mature personal and professional development.

Serguey Borisov:
You stated that you are an engineer and mother. How did motherhood affect your vision, your perfumes, your way of business?

Gabriella Chieffo:
I would say in a totalitarian and totalizing way! Becoming a Mother at 17 years of age was a choice, pardon THE choice, that has drawn a fine line, beyond which I have become a different person. Everything I have done since has been mindful of the presence of my son. I have never stopped since that moment, it has been a quest to what I am now, to being a woman, mother, entrepreneur ... constantly driven by the desire to achieve and grow.

Serguey Borisov:
Your new perfume is named Acquasala. What is the “salted water” about: the tears of a woman, or about Mare Nostrum? Or is it a “fadu” perfume: a woman crying over the sea, waiting for her lost sailor-man? Maybe my translation and my understandings are totally wrong. Please tell our readers the idea behind it and what about it differs from the others and makes it so particular?

Gabriella Chieffo:
Acquasala is a fragrance that opens the chapter of introspection, a moment of personal and also professional growth, conceived from reflection and self-awareness. The maddening research and critical speculation on who I am, has allowed me to achieve the result in an absolutely singular and deeply intimate fragrance, a fragrance still characterized by the traditional dry down of my creations.

Acquasala, water and salt, life and wisdom, is a fragrance that once again comes from the culinary inspiration: acquasala is actually a traditional dish from the South of Italy made from stale bread, oil, garlic, chilli pepper, egg and ... immediate consolation, so I say seeing as it's my comfort food!

This “quote” to food is already evident in the first notes of the pyramid, the head notes for the presence of elemi, black pepper, nutmeg, caraway, but the reasoning and reflection steer the fragrance in a conceptual dimension almost meditative.

Actually, finding myself thinking about all the various mixtures of water and salt, I thought about the sea, tears and amniotic fluid ... An image came to me: a woman on a beach (maybe Salento seeing as I live in Lecce) ... a woman that probably had to cross gardens of citrus fruits to get there, there is neroli in the head notes, and then decided to dive into the sea, in that expanse of endless water. She decided to leave behind the safety of firm land, where we rest our feet, unfailing ... she finds herself immersed in this salty liquid, in this acquasala and she feels nothing compared to the vastness that surrounds her ... but this acknowledgement is not approval to the tranquillity that grows within. It is nothing but part of everything. And she begins to remember that she already felt like this, in another Aquasala, the amniotic fluid that used to envelop her, when from spit it became flesh, cherished by breathing, rocked by heartbeats. Now that she finds herself wrapped up and bound by the sea, she recognizes the smell. That never-ending smell that is the end of all smells, that mathematical function that is the sum of other functions, which she has already perceived in the womb, in a sort of existential loop, a woman who has already achieved important milestones, who has carried out the ritual and who has understood the power and magic of regenerating by generating, becomes foetus again to understand the mystery of existence. She, who seemed to have forgotten that mix of sensations that, together, combine to create a single one, unique and perfectly defined, finds it again in a fragrance: Acquasala.

Serguey Borisov:
How did you choose the perfumer to work on the Acquasala perfume project?

Gabriella Chieffo:
Working with Luca Maffei, Atelier Fragranze Milano, was on one hand to be expected given the circumstances and also really fun, because above all Luca is a friend, a special person, a natural talent. Luca was able to understand what I wanted to express and to take a step back with a lot of humility even in the face of the changes that I considered indispensable in the final formula. It was a four-handed job that brought into the light what I had within, what I “felt” and, I would almost say, "needed" to express, but it was mainly a journey for both of us to become aware of what we wanted to achieve. An interesting and rich learning experience.

Serguey Borisov:
Your brand is almost one year now. For a child it's time to crawl and walk. What about your brand? How did you plan its future?

Gabriella Chieffo:
Over the last few months, I have received lots of official recognition and lots of appreciation which has led me to create more. During the last event, Esxence 2015, that I participated in, I received new and influential expressions of approval of the brand and of the new fragrance ... so for me the future is looking bright! I still have plenty to say, to tell, to share. Some of it is obviously ready, some of it is still in my head. I hope everyone will like it and be captivated by it, just like has happened so far.

My personal impressions of Gabriella Chieffo Acquasala.

This is a fougère fragrance with a muted herbal and spicy beginning. Clear and strong sea chord show as a little fishy, a little flowery (lily of the valley? lily?) And very ambergris-like. The sea salt part in Aquasala will be familiar to those who tried toLaboratorio Olfattivo Salina and Profumum Roma Acqua di Sale—but more muted and therefore more natural. The sea accord is so big that it seems as if the sea wears the owner, rather than the owner wears a sea-perfume. The protagonist is the sea, and incense is here on business, too—building a transition from sea to land, making way in the waves or moving reptiles on earth from the sea. In the basenotes the sea runs away very far, like in Normandy, but leaves behind a dry alabaster desert—a signature dry accord of Gabriella Chieffo perfumes. I think it should mean the chalky cliffs of the coast. However, it is possible that it depicts a plaster or chalk statue or a biblical salt column.

Gabriella Chieffo Acquasala:

Top: Neroli, Elemi, Caraway, Black pepper, Nutmeg, Sea grass;
Heart: Myrrh, Incense, Iris;
Base: Patchouli, Oak moss, Musk, Cashmeran and Amber.