Antonia's Flowers

Antonia's Flowers is an American perfume house founded by Antonia Bellanca, a florist. Antonia studied art in Boston France. While in France, she discovered the markets of Aix and Paris and all the wonderful varieties of flowers that she had up until then only seen in classic paintings—anemones, poppies, mimosa, freesia, and many more. When Antonia relocated to New York, a flower shop on Madison Avenue with beautifully designed arrangements caught her eye. She later learned that all its flowers had been imported from Europe and the bouquets were inspired by the Flemish flower paintings she loved.After working for several flower shops, in 1981 she opened her own in East Hampton, Long Island. She named it "Antonia's Flowers." The shop gained notoriety for its dramatic and original arrangements. Antonia's Flowers adorned the garden parties, weddings and restaurants of East Hampton's elite. Spending so much time around flowers made Antonia sensitive to the different floral scents. A particular fascination with freesia led to a search for a perfume for her own use that could successfully capture that beautiful freesia aroma in a harmonious bouquet with other flowers. Unable to find one, she set out on a quest to develop one.She began working with a perfumer in 1982, and the house's signature scent, Antonia's Flowers, was introduced in 1985. The fragrances sold well, and Antonia retired from the flower shop in 1990. Additional scents Floret (1995) and Tiempe Passat (1999) followed. Unisex scent Sogni del Mare is the most recent fragrance, from 2007. Designer Antonia's Flowers has 6 perfumes in our fragrance base. The earliest edition was created in 1985 and the newest is from 2013. Antonia's Flowers fragrances were made in collaboration with perfumers Bernard Chant and Norbert Bijaoui. more...