Borsari

Borsari was established in Parma in 1870 by Lodovico Borsari, who discovered a centuries-old violet recipe that had been created for Marie Louise of Habsburg — Napoleon's second wife and Grand Duchess of Parma — by monks in a local monastery. From that rediscovery came Violetta di Parma, the house signature that endures today and helped make the city synonymous with the violet as a perfumery material. The house grew through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries on the strength of that single exceptional floral, eventually expanding its range while keeping the Parma violet at the center of its identity. Borsari's positioning bridges history and accessibility — the fragrances carry the credibility of an authentic Italian heritage house while remaining available at prices that do not restrict them to collector circles. Today Borsari is primarily encountered in the Italian market and through specialist importers abroad, valued for its capacity to deliver an unaffected, classically composed violet fragrance in a category frequently crowded with modern reinterpretations.