Sofia Bardelli
Sofia Bardelli grew up in the Lombardy countryside, where the scent of fresh herbs and blooming orchards sparked a lifelong fascination with smell. After earning a pharmacy degree at the University of Pavia, she packed her notebooks and headed for Grasse, the historic perfume capital. At the Grasse Institute of Perfumery she mastered the chemistry of fragrance and the art of composition, graduating with top honors. Early commissions for boutique houses earned her a reputation for precision and imagination. In 2020 she co‑founded IN ASTRA with her sister Fabiola, turning a shared vision into a label that celebrates memory‑driven scents. Her breakthrough came with Imperium for Electimuss, a scent that captured the tension between power and intimacy and secured her place among the most sought‑after noses of her generation. Today she splits her time between Paris, Dubai and her family studio, mentoring young talent while continuing to push the boundaries of scent storytelling.
The hits
Notable creations
The signature
How Sofia composes
Sofia favors a laboratory‑first approach, testing dozens of variations before committing to a final accord. She gravitates toward bright, aromatic spices such as ginger, which she describes as a “spark that awakens the senses.” Earthy woods and resinous amber often provide the foundation, while she layers in unexpected floral accents to create depth. Her compositions typically balance clarity with complexity, allowing each ingredient to breathe while contributing to a cohesive whole. She prefers natural extracts when they offer a vivid character, but she does not shy away from synthetics that add precision.
Philosophy
What drives Sofia
Sofia believes that fragrance should act as a bridge to personal history, pulling a single note from a childhood kitchen or a distant market and amplifying it into a wearable memory. She treats each brief as a conversation, listening for the emotional core before selecting ingredients. Rather than chasing trends, she follows the chemistry of feeling, letting the raw material dictate the direction. For her, the most compelling perfume emerges when the formula respects both the science of the skin and the poetry of recollection.
The houses
Maisons Sofia composes for
In the same league