Epicò

Epicò (styled Epicò Parfum) is an Italian niche-fragrance house based in Zola Predosa, near Bologna. It was founded in 2018 by Federico Gucciardi, an artist from Bologna who positions himself as the writer behind each scent rather than a conventional perfumer [10]. The company operates under the legal entity B'code srl [4] and markets itself, in its own words, as a maker of "artistic niche luxury perfumes" [1].

The house began as a home-fragrance brand and later moved into personal fragrance, presenting a full eau de parfum collection at the Esxence trade fair in Milan in 2023. Its work centres on the idea of perfume as storytelling: the brand calls each fragrance an "olfactory poem" built from a short written narrative.

Epicò was created by Federico Gucciardi, who is described as an artist trained in fine art and born in Bologna. Retail and editorial profiles characterise him as "a poet who uses essences and fragrances instead of words." Rather than crediting an outside perfumer, the brand frames Gucciardi as the author of each scent; Fragrantica's per-fragrance entries list him as the nose on releases such as Midnight, Merci Café and Thelycheeus.

According to the company, each fragrance starts as a brief story written by Gucciardi and is then translated into scent — summarised in the house line "every drop is a word; every fragrance is a chapter of our story." Epicò also says its creative panel is made up of people from outside the fragrance industry, chosen for their grasp of emotion rather than technical perfumery.

The brand's founding date and its public launch fall in different years, and sources record them separately. Epicò and several niche retailers date the founding to 2018, when Gucciardi launched a home-fragrance line originally subtitled "Calme Emotions" [10][11]. Fragrantica, which catalogues the personal-fragrance side, notes its earliest eau de parfum edition from 2022 and treats the brand as a recent arrival [14]. The personal-fragrance collection was formally introduced at Esxence 2023 in Milan, held from 30 March to 2 April 2023, where the house showed ten fragrances [15][19]. By the brand's account, the shift from home scents to wearable perfume came at the request of customers.

Releases continued in the years that followed: Midnight in 2023 [17], Merci Café and Don't Call Me Oud in 2024 [20], and Thelycheeus in May 2025 [21].

Epicò is operated by B'code srl, registered at Via Pepoli 16 in Zola Predosa (Bologna) [4]. No acquisitions or sister brands are recorded in the available sources.

Epicò presents perfume as "author perfumery" and emotional storytelling rather than trend-driven product. Its Italian tagline, La poesia italiana della profumeria artistica ("Italian poetry of artistic perfumery"), frames the house as a tribute to Italian craft and culture. The brand states that everything, from the first sketches to the finished packaging, is made in Italy, and it emphasises responsibly sourced materials, though it does not publish formal sustainability certifications.

The stated mission is plainly personal: "Feel good about yourself, feel free to chase your dream and make it even more beautiful than you thought it would be." Across its own and third-party descriptions, the house stresses individuality over mass-market scents, and its creative work extends to collaborations with photographers, poets, sculptors and writers.

The range spans three areas: eau de parfum, home fragrance and a small skincare line. The eau de parfum collection includes roughly sixteen scents — among them Almanera, Otello, Frida, Thelycheeus and Vani' Charnel — typically priced in the niche/prestige tier at €160–180 per 100 ml. Each fragrance is paired with a short written story.

Signature compositions lean toward gourmand and oriental styles. Almanera, shown at Esxence 2023, is a floriental built around coffee and caramel notes, which the brand frames with the line "the perfume is a promise." Otello is a woody-oriental gourmand described through a "sweet and salty" contrast, while Thelycheeus (2025) is structured around lychee, rose, green tea and ambergris. The home-fragrance side comprises around twenty scents — candles and room sprays such as Cherry & Cashmere Wood, Bakhoor and Tobacco & Spice — and the three-item skincare line consists of body creams scent-matched to the fragrances Mon Amour, Midnight and Macaron.

Fragrantica, a widely used fragrance database, covered the brand's Esxence 2023 debut in a dedicated article and later reported the 2025 launch of Thelycheeus. Epicò is also a confirmed exhibitor at Pitti Fragranze 23 in Florence, scheduled for 11–13 September 2026 — one of the two main Italian niche-perfumery trade fairs alongside Esxence [13].

Epicò is active. Its most recent fragrance launches are dated 2025, and it is listed as a confirmed exhibitor at the September 2026 Pitti Fragranze fair [13]. Distribution is multi-channel: direct sales through epicoparfum.it alongside a network of niche-fragrance retailers, including Luckyscent in the United States and 50-ml.com in Europe, plus physical stockists listed through the brand's store locator.