Altaia

Altaia is a niche fragrance house based in Rome, operated by the Italian company Eau d'Italie S.r.l.[1] Its name is an acronym for "A Long Time Ago In Argentina," a reference to the family history that the collection sets out to tell. The line was created by Marina Sersale and Sebastián Alvarez Murena, the married couple behind the perfume house Eau d'Italie, and it remains active, with eau de parfum releases dated as recently as 2025.

The brand is unusual in that its story sits at the centre of the product rather than its ingredients. Each scent is presented as a chapter in a personal and historical narrative, and the company communicates largely through short films rather than ingredient marketing. Several editorial sources describe Altaia as Argentinian, reflecting that narrative inspiration and the founders' heritage;[9] the company itself is registered and operates in Italy, with its address in Rome.[2]

Altaia grew directly out of its founders' biographies. Marina Sersale is described as the great-great-granddaughter of James Morrison, a Victorian English entrepreneur and art collector, and grew up between England and Italy before settling in Rome as a documentary filmmaker. Sebastián Alvarez Murena is described as the great-great-grandson of Bartolomé Mitre, who became president of a unified Argentina in 1862. The two met in Italy in 2001.[2]

According to the company, the pair discovered in 2012 that their families had already crossed paths in nineteenth-century Argentina, where Morrison's sons had financed railway, infrastructure and banking ventures during the era of Mitre's presidency.[2] That discovery became the premise for a new collection. The name Altaia — "A Long Time Ago In Argentina" — frames the line as a tribute to what the brand calls "perfumery's remarkable narrative power."

The founders launched Eau d'Italie, their first perfume house, in 2004, a collection inspired by Positano and other Italian settings.[2] Altaia followed as a separate, sister project.

Its founding date is recorded differently across sources. Altaia's own account dates the spark of the idea to the 2012 family discovery,[2] while several specialist publications place the actual launch in 2015, when the line debuted with three fragrances — By Any Other Name, Don't Cry For Me and Yu Son — all composed by the perfumer Daphné Bugey.[8] In 2016 the collection reached the Australian market, sold exclusively through Mecca Cosmetica from November of that year.[6] The catalogue has since expanded to roughly a dozen eau de parfum titles.

Altaia is owned by Eau d'Italie S.r.l., the Rome-based company founded by Sersale and Alvarez Murena in 2004 and registered at Vicolo del Bottino 9.[1] Altaia functions as a sister line to the company's original Eau d'Italie range rather than as an independent firm.

The brand positions perfume as a vehicle for memory and storytelling. The company describes the collection as drawing "inspiration from the extraordinary circumstances of Marina and Sebastián's shared family past," with each fragrance tied to a specific moment — By Any Other Name to a marriage proposal in the rose garden of Sudeley Castle, Don't Cry For Me to Buenos Aires, Yu Son to an Italian citrus grove. The retailer Luckyscent characterises the scents as intended to be "both timeless and contemporary."

Much of this is conveyed through cinematic short films with titles such as "A Love Story 150 Years in The Making" and "Atacama, True Love Waits," which foreground emotional narrative over technical product description. The packaging is presented as pared-back and minimalist.

Altaia's range consists entirely of eau de parfum. Alongside the 2015 debut trio, later additions include Atacama, described by the brand as "salt on sun-kissed skin," and Tuberose In Blue, built around tuberose and neroli with sandalwood. Other titles in the collection include Woo(e)d, Amank'ay, Any Day Now and Wonder of You. The fragrances are also offered as smaller formats and in a discovery set. The brand does not foreground signature or hero ingredients in its public communication.

Rather than make broad environmental claims, Altaia publishes detailed, per-component recycling instructions for its packaging. For each format — 100 ml and 10 ml bottles and 1.5 ml samples — the site lists the relevant material codes for the glass bottle, metal cap and cardboard box and maps them to Italian municipal waste streams, advising customers to check their local council's disposal rules.

Altaia is an active brand. It maintains a direct e-commerce site with shipping across Italy and the EU, and its fragrances are distributed in the United States through retailers including Luckyscent, Aedes and Beautyhabit and in Australia through Mecca Cosmetica. The catalogue lists around eleven fragrances, with the newest edition dated to 2025, and the parent company Eau d'Italie S.r.l. remains operational in Rome.