Last Friday, December 9th at noon, my great inspiration and friend, Mona di Orio, passed away. A minor surgery that turned into a tragedy like a mundane and tragic winter event. A cannon shot that shattered our hearts and flesh.
Mona Di Orio was a talented perfume designer who had lived in Nice for 20 years. Her name was synonymous with refinement and excellence worldwide.
Her fragrances, all born in her little workshop in Old Nice, filled the secret world of niche perfumeries from Rome to Kiev and from London to New York, passing through Lisbon or Doha…
She turned perfume into a philosophy, full of sensuality and harmony. She created stories and memories. Sincere and wholehearted in her words, she believed that perfume should first surprise before touching the heart and soul.
Mona developed and grew this passion for the art of perfume alongside Edmond Roudniska, the famous creator of Femme de Rochas, Diorissimo, Eau Sauvage, and L’Eau d’Hermès. With him for 15 years, she learned the love of fine raw materials and creations that transcend time and space.
In 2004, Dutch designer Jeroen Oude Sogtoen gave her the means to create her own perfume house based in Amsterdam. Mona crafted and shaped her perfumes, much like the “hand-sewn” work of an artisan. But her poetic soul did not stop at perfumery.
Mona was a gourmand who loved wine and could talk about it like no one else. Wine revealed its secrets to her, especially in the company of Alain Ducasse when he was chef at the Louis XV in Monaco. This passion is reflected in the stoppers of her bottles, all capped with a Champagne muselet. This is also why the people of Nice might have known Mona more as an advisor at the wine cellar “La part des anges” than as a perfumer in Amsterdam.
Her eclectic artist’s personality offered her an atypical path, tinged with elegance. Meeting Mona di Orio was an olfactory and sensual delight where time stood still.
Today, Mona has flown away, but the heady scents of her creations still tell us beautiful stories of neroli, heliotrope, cade, civet, olibanum, amber, and vetiver…
Perfume of a woman in winter…
by Valérie Arboireau
