It’s fair to say that family businesses are built on values that extend far beyond profit. Sustaining momentum and continuing a legacy is just as important for the future as it is for the past.
Not only as a way of honouring what came before, but also of shaping a new chapter for the next generation. It’s a daunting responsibility, and arguably even more challenging than creating a brand from scratch, because preserving a brand’s identity requires a delicate balance between heritage and evolution.
A new wave of young female entrepreneurs – among them Hailey Bieber with Rhode, Jess Hunt and Jenna Meek with REFY, as well as Taylor Frankel and Ally Frankel with Nudestix, not to mention Kylie Jenner and her eponymous global cosmetics empire – have taken the beauty industry by storm with brands that feel immediate, culturally fluent and irresistibly modern. But transforming a heritage perfume house with more than 300 years of history into something equally relevant presents an entirely different challenge.
This is the task 24-year-old Louise Farina has taken on as the ninth-generation family member —-and the first woman to lead Farina 1709, one of the oldest fragrance houses in the world and the creator of the original Eau de Cologne, named after its birthplace, Cologne, where the manufacture remains based to this day. Charged with bringing new energy to a centuries-old institution, she is navigating the delicate balance between modern relevance and the mystique, craftsmanship and quiet magic that define its history.
“It was clear to me from a young age that I wanted to work in perfumery,” says Farina, who studied chemistry at university in Cologne, before earning a master’s degree at ISIPCA — one of the world’s most prestigious perfume schools. Its alumni include some of the industry’s most celebrated noses, from Mathilde Laurent at Cartier and Jérôme Jacques at Chanel to renowned fragrance master, Francis Kurkdjian.
The magic and opulence of parfumerie
And what of Farina 1709’s history? To say it is star-studded would be an understatement. Over the centuries, devotees of the fragrance have included everyone from Queen Victoria and Napoleon Bonaparte to Honoré de Balzac, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
“There is no imperial or royal house in Europe that I did not supply,” wrote founder Johann Maria Farina in the 18th century. Further through time, Farina 1709 continued to captivate the kings and queens of high society and cinema, including Oscar Wilde and Marlene Dietrich. Even Diana, Princess of Wales, was said to favour its fresh, luminous scent, inspired by a rainy morning in Italy (Johann Maria Farina was born in Santa Maria Maggiore and moved to Cologne as a child), composed of sparkling notes of bergamot and other fresh citrus notes with hints of herbal aromas and floral blossoms. The scent has remained unchanged to this day and Louise continues to build on this legacy, bringing new ideas to the house with a clear sense of direction, determination, and a level of business maturity that feels beyond her years.
“ISIPCA sounds like a school for magic, and in a way it is. You learn to build a scent library, training yourself to recognise raw materials, distinguish between scents, and understand how they interact within a formula. But when you begin mixing them, that’s where the fun really starts,” says the young perfumer, who is currently developing a new series of fragrances for the house. Though still under wraps, each scent is inspired by a distinct note drawn from the original scent.
From creating to selling—the story behind each fragrance
For someone who admits she was once “daunted” by the business side of running such a historic perfume house, Louise has come to understand that fresh ideas are best paired with long-standing industry expertise. Enter Nicola Pozzani, an award-winning fragrance creator and educator who now supports Farina 1709 in its creative direction, including the house’s museum in Cologne and its perfume atelier, where visitors can create their own personalised Eau de Cologne.
“Perfumery is one of those crafts where the more you know, the more creative you can become, because the learning never really ends. What makes our partnership work is the balance between fresh ideas and experience. I bring my own tastes, instincts and perspective, while Nicola brings a deeper understanding of the endless possibilities that can be achieved in fragrance,” says Louise, who has spearheaded new creative collaborations, including a partnership with the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort.
She has also masterminded the rebrand the original scent and its bottle, drawing on historical tropes and motifs and giving them a cool, modern spin — a move often seen in luxury fashion, from Matthew Blazy at Chanel to Jonathan Anderson at Dior.
The Farina 1709 Eau de Cologne, always intended as a unisex fragrance, is now presented in an elegant cylindrical box in a deep red hue (one of 50 Louise considered from the archives), while the bottle takes its cues from a 1920s Art Deco angular silhouette. Hand-bottled and hand-labelled in Cologne, it carries the signature of her ancestor Johann Maria Farina at the centre of the label, marked with three dots — a detail originally used to deter counterfeiting, such was the popularity of the scent. “He was really ahead of his time and was not about to tolerate poor quality imitations,” says Louise, remarking on the business smarts of her ancestor.
The house has recently launched a luxury candle inspired by the iconic signature fragrance, but it is the new series of perfumes that Louise is most excited about.
“We use natural ingredients as much as possible, and each one holds a special memory for me,” she says. “I remember, for example, my grandmother cooking with bergamots. The new collection presents six cocooning, clean and complex fragrances that build on this olfactory architecture.”
“Perfumery is one of those crafts where the more you know, the more creative you can become, because the learning never really ends.”
The future of Farina 1709
Like many young entrepreneurs, she envisions a future shaped by small but meaningful changes that chime with contemporary luxury while creating an aura of aspiration and desirability.
“I remember what my father said when we discussed me taking over the business,” she adds. “As I am an only child, the transition was straightforward in one sense, but it felt brave for him to hand me this role in my early twenties. But as he told me, ‘You are in the most creative time of your life, and we should use that.’”
When asked about her personal fragrance favourites, Louise points first to Diptyque. “It’s a beautiful brand,” she says. “I love its artistic approach, and the way it thinks outside the box with fragrances like L’Eau Papier and Philosykos. It’s a mood.” Alongside it, she also admires heritage houses such as Floris, praising the care and attention they bring to their creations. “Perfume can open so many worlds,” she reflects, adding, “This is what Farina 1709 is founded on. I want it to be worn and enjoyed by people who understand the product, its many essences and its many magical stories.”
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Photo credits throughout: Farina 1709
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