Sacristy incense and cold cathedral stone, turned into extrait.
Filippo Sorcinelli builds fragrance the way a cathedral organist builds sound: slow, resinous and unafraid of the dark. As the mind behind UNUM he works in incense and smoke, in the hush of stone interiors and the weight of vestments, so a composition feels less like a scent you spray and more like a room you step into. The blending itself is left to a nose who prefers to stay anonymous.
- Origin Mondolfo, Italy
- Founded 2014
- Known for Liturgical incense, UNUM
- Here 3 fragrances
- Founded
- 2014UNUM perfumes; LAVS vestment atelier since 2001
- Founder
- Filippo Sorcinelli
- Concept
- Liturgical incense from the maker of papal vestments
01
An organist who dresses popes
Filippo Sorcinelli was born in Mondolfo, in the Marche, in 1975, and was playing the organ in the cathedrals of Fano, Rimini and San Benedetto del Tronto by the age of 13. He went on to the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome. In 2001 he founded LAVS, an atelier for liturgical vestments that has made robes for Benedict XVI, Francis and Leo XIV. He is also organist and artistic director for the confraternity of the Church of the Cross in Senigallia.
02
Incense for vestments, then for skin
At LAVS, finished vestments were scented before they left the atelier. In 2014 that habit became LAVS, the first UNUM extrait: labdanum, elemi, cardamom, black pepper and rosewood. The perfumes that followed draw on gothic art, organ music, photography and fog. Reliqvia honours the Church of the Cross in Senigallia, a Baroque oratory built in 1608, and sets Scots pine, lentisk and clove over patchouli, incense, blackcurrant and smoke. Sacristie des Arbres carries incense into a forest of pine, mint, Virginia cedar and guaiac wood.
03
Golden ratio and an unnamed nose
Sorcinelli conceives and directs the perfumes; when UNUM began, the compositions were blended by a perfumer who preferred to stay unnamed. They are extraits de parfum, most in 100 ml bottles, made in Italy, and the company behind them, Alter Duo, is based in Mondolfo. The first packaging was drawn on the golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence, proportions carried into the boxes and the caps. Reliqvia also comes as a diffuser for the home.
Where is Filippo Sorcinelli based?
Filippo Sorcinelli is based in Mondolfo, Italy.
When was Filippo Sorcinelli founded?
Filippo Sorcinelli was founded in 2014.