This formula is a huge bergamot space heated by a resinous background.
It's a bit like a Greek island in August when the aromas of sweet citruses mix with the green balsamic smell of cypresses and incensy vibes of rockrose Everything gets lifted into the air by the heat reflected from the stony ground. You can almost hear the cicadas in tall dry grass in this perfume.
Ithaka is the first perfume in the Versi trilogy exploring the relationship between poetry and perfumery and how to appreciate it.
It's inspired by the poem Ithaka written by C. P. Cavafy, and first published in 1911.
Perfumer: Camille Chemardin
Genesis, Concept and Creative Design: Stefania Squeglia
***
Ithaka (the poem)
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon — don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon — you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind —
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
***
P. Cavafy, fromC.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems.Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Translation Copyright © 1975, 1992 by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Reproduced with permission of Princeton University Press.
Source: C.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems (Princeton University Press, 1975)
All about this fragrance
Vibe check
This is a fragrance for close, thoughtful company in warm weather, when the air still holds the day’s heat and conversation slows to an unhurried pace. It feels most natural on someone who wants a quiet, resonant presence rather than a loud one.
How to wear
Best in spring through early autumn, especially in warmth where the bergamot stays airy and the resins bloom without becoming heavy. Two to four sprays are enough; it has notable longevity and a noticeable trail, so it wears well on skin and fabric with a dry, glowing diffusion.
Who it’s for
For wearers who like citrus with depth, incense with brightness, and woody-resinous scents that feel reflective rather than dark. It suits people drawn to poetic, artisanal perfumes with a Mediterranean warmth and a composed, unisex profile.
Release year
2019
The nose
Camille Chemardin is a contemporary perfumer known for precise, textural compositions that often balance clarity with depth. In Ithaka, that instinct shows in the way bergamot opens the scent like bright sea air before the resins, incense and woods gather into a more meditative, lingering trail. Her work here suits Mendittorosa’s poetic brief: the fragrance is structured like a passage, not a static accord, moving from light to heat to shadow with a restrained but expressive hand.
Collaborators
Stefania Squeglia, Mendittorosa’s founder and creative director, shaped the concept and visual world of Ithaka, framing it as the opening chapter of the Versi trilogy and guiding its poetic, travel-led brief. Camille Chemardin translated that vision into the formula, turning the Cavafy-inspired idea into a resinous citrus composition.
Mendittorosa’s story
Mendittorosa approaches perfume as an intimate, handcrafted art form rather than a conventional luxury product. The house is known for soulful, limited production, natural-leaning materials and objects that feel talismanic, with a strong emphasis on poetry, symbolism and personal expression.
Ithaka’s concept
Ithaka was created as the first fragrance in Mendittorosa’s Versi project, a trilogy linking poetry and perfumery. Inspired by C. P. Cavafy’s 1911 poem, it turns the idea of the journey into scent: bergamot suggests open water and distance, while incense, labdanum and woods evoke heat, stone and the memory of travel.
Extra info
Ithaka is the first fragrance in Mendittorosa’s Versi trilogy, also referred to as Versi Studio. The bottle is presented with the house’s handcrafted wooden cap and boat-incised tablet, housed in an artful wooden box. The name and concept directly reference Cavafy’s poem about the value of the journey.
This formula is a huge bergamot space heated by a resinous background.
It's a bit like a Greek island in August when the aromas of sweet citruses mix with the green balsamic smell of cypresses and incensy vibes of rockrose Everything gets lifted into the air by the heat reflected from the stony ground. You can almost hear the cicadas in tall dry grass in this perfume.
Ithaka is the first perfume in the Versi trilogy exploring the relationship between poetry and perfumery and how to appreciate it.
It's inspired by the poem Ithaka written by C. P. Cavafy, and first published in 1911.
Perfumer: Camille Chemardin
Genesis, Concept and Creative Design: Stefania Squeglia
***
Ithaka (the poem)
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon — don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon — you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind —
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
***
P. Cavafy, fromC.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems.Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Translation Copyright © 1975, 1992 by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Reproduced with permission of Princeton University Press.
Source: C.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems (Princeton University Press, 1975)
All about this fragrance
Vibe check
This is a fragrance for close, thoughtful company in warm weather, when the air still holds the day’s heat and conversation slows to an unhurried pace. It feels most natural on someone who wants a quiet, resonant presence rather than a loud one.
How to wear
Best in spring through early autumn, especially in warmth where the bergamot stays airy and the resins bloom without becoming heavy. Two to four sprays are enough; it has notable longevity and a noticeable trail, so it wears well on skin and fabric with a dry, glowing diffusion.
Who it’s for
For wearers who like citrus with depth, incense with brightness, and woody-resinous scents that feel reflective rather than dark. It suits people drawn to poetic, artisanal perfumes with a Mediterranean warmth and a composed, unisex profile.
Release year
2019
The nose
Camille Chemardin is a contemporary perfumer known for precise, textural compositions that often balance clarity with depth. In Ithaka, that instinct shows in the way bergamot opens the scent like bright sea air before the resins, incense and woods gather into a more meditative, lingering trail. Her work here suits Mendittorosa’s poetic brief: the fragrance is structured like a passage, not a static accord, moving from light to heat to shadow with a restrained but expressive hand.
Collaborators
Stefania Squeglia, Mendittorosa’s founder and creative director, shaped the concept and visual world of Ithaka, framing it as the opening chapter of the Versi trilogy and guiding its poetic, travel-led brief. Camille Chemardin translated that vision into the formula, turning the Cavafy-inspired idea into a resinous citrus composition.
Mendittorosa’s story
Mendittorosa approaches perfume as an intimate, handcrafted art form rather than a conventional luxury product. The house is known for soulful, limited production, natural-leaning materials and objects that feel talismanic, with a strong emphasis on poetry, symbolism and personal expression.
Ithaka’s concept
Ithaka was created as the first fragrance in Mendittorosa’s Versi project, a trilogy linking poetry and perfumery. Inspired by C. P. Cavafy’s 1911 poem, it turns the idea of the journey into scent: bergamot suggests open water and distance, while incense, labdanum and woods evoke heat, stone and the memory of travel.
Extra info
Ithaka is the first fragrance in Mendittorosa’s Versi trilogy, also referred to as Versi Studio. The bottle is presented with the house’s handcrafted wooden cap and boat-incised tablet, housed in an artful wooden box. The name and concept directly reference Cavafy’s poem about the value of the journey.