The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Gan 'Eden takes its name from the Hebrew for the Garden of Eden, a place framed in the research as both purity and sin. Michele Pollini built the 2025 release around that tension, drawing inspiration from Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan and his themes of redemption, salvation, spirituality, and sexuality. The sacred and the profane sit side by side here, and the composition moves between both registers rather than settling into one. The fragrance was composed by Pollini, the perfumer behind Gan 'Eden, with the note structure and the musical contrasts in Dave Gahan's work serving as a reference point for the build.
What makes the structure interesting is the way two seemingly opposed materials share a single axis. Lavender and violet leaf contribute a cool, herbal quality. Fig leaf and fig milk bring green and creamy notes at once. Leather adds a dry, close texture, with a distinctly animalic grain. Blackcurrant and pink pepper add a bright, slightly tart edge in the opening. As the scent develops, these materials keep trading emphasis, green against creamy, tart against dry, and the result is a composition that holds both halves without losing either one. Sacred and sensual, held in the same hand.
The evolution
The opening arrives green and fast, fig leaf sharpened by pink pepper and the dark tartness of blackcurrant. Lavender holds the center with a cool, herbal steadiness, so the first impression leans leafy rather than fruity. Then violet leaf drops in with a soft, watery edge, and jasmine brings warmth that feels like skin rather than perfume. Fig milk is the turn. It rounds everything into something creamy and faintly sweet, and leather slides underneath, grainy and close. What lingers is the base: moss and sandalwood go damp and earthy, ambergris adds a mineral quality, frankincense contributes a resinous lift, and cypriol keeps the whole thing mineral. On skin, the green notes fade first while the creamy fig milk and the dry leather remain, followed by the woody base that stays close to the wearer long after the opening has passed.
Cultural impact
Gan 'Eden arrives from a house with its own distinctive approach to niche perfumery. Its subject matter draws on Dave Gahan's recurring tension between sacred and profane, and the fragrance follows that thread through its material choices, from the herbal lavender and violet leaf to the creamy fig milk and the dry leather. It's a composition worth taking the time to explore, since the notes reveal themselves gradually rather than all at once, and each stage brings a different balance of green, tart, creamy, and woody notes to the surface.
The House
Pollini ProfumiPollini Profumi is an Italian niche fragrance house founded by musician and perfumer Michele Pollini. Operating from Turin, the brand crafts scents that blend olfactory storytelling with artistic sensibility, reflecting Pollini's background as a musician who brings a composer's ear to fragrance creation. Each release since the brand's launch in 2024 has explored distinct olfactory territories, from the verdant complexity of Labirinto to the warm spices of Meraviglioso. The house has quickly established a presence in selective boutique environments, with distribution through curated retailers in Italy and beyond.
The Creator
Michele PolliniPollini's style resists easy categorization. His background in chemistry gives him a deep understanding of raw materials that goes beyond intuitive blending.
