Coreterno

Coreterno is an Italian niche fragrance and lifestyle house founded in 2015, with its operating company, RIOT GROUP S.r.l, based in Rome [1]. The name translates from Italian as "eternal heart" (from cuore eterno), and the house frames it as a statement about the enduring power of human emotion and self-reinvention through art, scent and language. Alongside its core line of eau de parfum, Coreterno produces scented candles, jewellery, textiles and bath and body products, and its work is sold in more than 40 countries [6].

The brand pairs esoteric and alchemical symbolism with rock and punk-influenced imagery, positioning fragrance and design as tools for emotional self-discovery rather than conventional luxury. It remains active in 2026, with scheduled appearances at international trade fairs supported by a regional EU internationalisation grant.

Coreterno was conceived in Rome and, in the company's telling, "brought to life on the cosmopolitan streets of New York" in 2015 [2]. This framing is part of the brand's aesthetic identity rather than a record of where the company is domiciled: the name is Italian, the founder and perfumer are Italian, and the operating entity, RIOT GROUP S.r.l, is registered in Rome. Independent editorial profiles describe the origin simply as Italian [6].

Accounts of who founded the house differ slightly. Coreterno's own about page credits Creative Director Michelangelo Brancato as the guiding figure behind the collections [1], while several independent fragrance editorials consistently name a second founder, Brancato's wife Francilla Ronchi, described as a communication strategist from the fashion world [8]. The two versions are complementary rather than contradictory, with the brand site emphasising Brancato's creative role and outside coverage crediting both as co-founders. According to those editorial accounts, Brancato spent more than two decades as an art director in the music industry before creating Coreterno as a platform merging symbolism, fragrance and design [8].

Coreterno describes itself in deliberately mythic terms, claiming to "descend from the families of alchemists, engravers, rebels, mystics and poets" and to keep "the secret of centuries of immense beauty" [1]. The stated mission is to breathe life into inanimate objects and to help people discover what the company calls mystery and the soul's healing power. Its visual language draws on archetypal rock and pop symbols, nineteenth-century portraits and antique etchings, reinterpreted in a contemporary style.

Editorial coverage characterises the house as poetic and uncompromising, built on contrasts between darkness and light, romance and rebellion, antiquity and pop culture, with an aesthetic closer to gothic rock than to mainstream luxury [6]. The brand's motto, "Be Your Own Prophet," frames its products as encouragement toward individual reinvention and creativity [7]. Its fragrances are presented as unisex and highly concentrated, and its candles as rituals "made of wax, light, and words."

The eau de parfum line is the core of the range and comprises sixteen scents, including Freakincense, Egocentrique, Catharsis, Punk Motel and Mystic Sugar. The fragrances are composed by Luca Maffei, an Italian perfumer associated with Atelier Fragranze Milano, whom editorial sources describe as one of Italy's most sought-after noses [6]. Freakincense, built around an ecclesiastical incense heart with elemi, cashmeran, vetiver and labdanum, is presented by the company as tracing "the delicate line between the sacred and the profane" [5].

Beyond fragrance, the house extends the same symbolic design language across jewellery, scented and pillar candles, scarves, cushions and bath and body products. The perfumes sit at a niche price point.

Coreterno is active as of 2026. It operates an e-commerce site, distributes to more than 40 countries, and has scheduled participation in international trade fairs through mid-2026 — Notes Shanghai in April, Art Scent in May and Esxance Milano in June — supported by a Lazio Region SME internationalisation grant co-funded by the European Union [3]. It has been covered by the fragrance reference site Fragrantica [9] and featured in trade coverage of the Paris Who's Next fair [10].