MILAN — Olfactory Signals, a platform that redefines fragrance as a powerful artistic and design medium, is catching on.

Since its debut on the scene in 2025 at 10 Corso Como, the pioneering sensory design platform has become distinguished for highlighting the unexpected possibilities that coalesce when creative minds in the olfactory, art and design fields unite. It also engineers custom olfactive identities to alter human perception and sculpt the atmosphere within physical and architectural spaces.

In March, it also showcased at design event Matter and Shape in Paris’ Jardin des Tuileries with an immersive installation. On Thursday, it cut the ribbon on the third edition, this time held at landmark Milanese concept store 10 Corso Como, where organizers expect over 3,000 visitors, up from 2,000 at 10 Corso Como last year. Spanish photographer and Apartamento Magazine cofounder Nacho Alegre conceived its visual campaign.

A Unique Crowd

The salon brought together more than 30 international fragrance brands including Mature Premiere, founded in 2016 by Grasse native Aurélien Guichard, who is the only perfumer in the world to cultivate his own ingredients. Uniform, founded by Swedish-Eritrean artist Haisam Mohammed, is a vegan, cruelty-free range of perfume oils produced in France and which recently received a grant for Black-owned businesses from the foundation run by A-Cold-Wall founder Samuel Ross. At the event, Mohammad displayed how his scents can marry with design, showcasing a sculptural ultrasonic humidifier emitting its ninth fragrance called Santalis, made with rice and sandalwood.

Olfactory Signals has the potential to grow and penetrate markets worldwide, its founder Alfredo Canducci Pais Ferreira told WWD. Hospitality is a major driver for the brands that showcase he said. “We are focused on hospitality and we are focused on it generating the majority of our business,” he said. Ferreira is a fashion veteran who has developed global branding strategy for firms like Palm Angels and Miss Sixty. He also curated and worked on exhibits like an immersive installation for British contemporary artist and designer Es Devlin and site-specific architectural kiosks for architect and art director Piero Lissoni.

He said the team is planning to expand the event to the U.S. markets and Asia and into high-traffic areas like airport spaces and museums.

“We’re expecting this third edition to be our most successful because people are starting to learn. We’re seeing growth through consistency of participating brands,” he said, adding that hotels and airports present the most potential for growth.

Concerts are also something organizers have considered. “Diffusers can really mix up the music,” he commented.

Fragrance as Art

Elsewhere, the gallery and the mezzanine of the historic shopping landmark hosted installations by contributing artists such as Chiara Cappellini, who presented The Field of Possibilities where scent is sealed inside an inaccessible vessel made in Murano.

The rooftop showcased a design project by Norwegian artist and smell researcher Sissel Tolaas in collaboration with architect Octave Perrault.

Named Open AI(R), the solar-powered system treats air and water as the elemental infrastructure of life — carriers of memory, emotion, chemistry and information. Humidity is funnelled through tubes and directed toward furniture upholstery infusing it with lasting fragrance. The work underscores the importance of infusing clean air into the environment, Tolaas told WWD. “What we put into the environment stays. Making the world aware of that fact is what I do,” she said. Tolaas most recently came to the design fore in October for “The Soul Garden” she created with India-based designer Vikram Goyal at Design Miami.Paris.

The Sweet Spot Between Design and Fragrances

Olfactory Signals’ echo is resonating further afield among design-native brands. Amen Candles, a Paris based maison founded by Uruguayan artist Rodrigo Garcia Alvarez, presented their handmade candles made in Grasse. The main focus were their sculptural vases and vessels made with mycelium, offering a combination of sustainable high-end design, quality fragrances and harmony. Garcia Alvarez, whose art has been exhibited around the world, said each scent is a natural enhancement to his creations. “The fragrances come from nature. I do the designing but nature does the rest.”

Jenny D. Pham, a German-born, U.S.-raised former chief brand officer for Versace, and her partner, artist and California native Phil America who are the founders of Milan-based design brand Objects Are By said Olfactory Signals is a unique occasion on the design scene. On Thursday the duo presented Cromo, a new tea brand which marked its launch during Milan Design Week. “Olfactory Signals is creating something new that blends fragrance with art and design in a unique way and that’s the reason we were interested in it in the first place.”

The four-day showcase will close here on Sunday and will host a public program of talks, as well as a sonic experience by Argentine sound artist, DJ, and composer QOA, as well as tea ceremonies hosted by Pham.