Giovanni Festa

Born in Naples in 1964, Giovanni Festa, while still very young, founded in Naples in 1990 da_Galeno Officine Cosmetiche s.r.l. in the cosmetics industry, historically the first business related to this sector begun in the capital of the Campania region. Characterised by a strong export drive, less than three years after its launch it would consolidate international commercial relationships in its network, from India to the United States. In 2009, the new plant was inaugurated in the ASI industrial zone in Nola, with cutting-edge technologies that further directed its production principles along a path of research and development, carried out in collaboration with universities and research institutes. Innovative scientific formulations, the quality of raw materials, always chosen with a view to ethically impeccable sustainability, and careful product research, immediately establish Galeno in the main Italian and international markets, turning it into a point of reference for avant-garde cosmetics. The love for beauty and the realisation of ideas lead Giovanni Festa to explore the world of essences. The opportunity to travel and visit distant places, intrinsic to export activity, offers him a new starting point to bring with him not only “interior travel” notes, but above all olfactory experiences that translate into the acquisition of very valuable natural essences and oils, available only in rare quantities, which he develops in sophisticated projects for the niche luxury fragrance market. Indeed, alongside classic patchouli, amber, vetiver, in the perfumes of the Neapolitan nose it is possible to appreciate notes of Papyrus (Cyperus Papyrus), with surprising sweetness, salinity, and touches of rye bread and leather, which can evoke, for example, Cleopatra of Egypt with the intention to seal the fate of Marcantonio on parchment; or the woody, sweet and incense-like notes of the Nardo oil (Nardostachys Jatamansi), precious as it is recounted in the Gospel, where the prostitute Mary of Magdala pours an entire pound over the feet of Jesus, which she then dries with her hair. A gesture considered senseless and crazy due to the great value of the ointment, corresponding to the earnings of a year of hard work. From these experiences, he makes it a passion, but also a business activity by founding Aulentissima in 2017, a brand that he then expands by opening real perfume workshops. The first opens in April 2019, in Naples, in via Calabritto, and soon other offices open in Italy and abroad. In 2018 with Osang, he is among the finalists of the prestigious Art and Olfaction Awards, a prize established by the famous Institute for Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles. Giovanni Festa’s perfumes want to tell stories—stories of travel, life experiences—stories that sometimes are also inspired by literature, philosophy, the visual arts, and stories with a solid and structured narrative plot, methodical, with olfactory registers meticulously studied. Each of his collections (the first from 2019, the second from May 2020 with the creation of a total of 32 fragrances) is the blank page of a new book, where you can note thoughts and tune in essences, where you can slide your hand quickly towards an unpredictable ending, always open.