The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Bosco Sospeso takes its name from the Italian for 'suspended grove.' The inspiration lies in Milan's vertical gardens, those contemporary architectural structures where nature extends toward the sky, green hearts suspended over the urban frenzy. The fragrance translates that tension between city and canopy into scent. Bertrand Duchaufour worked with Step Aboard to build something that smelled like compressed nature, not landscape, but the idea of landscape elevated above the street. The result is a fragrance that opens like walking into a green wall, then settles into the earthy quiet of a forest floor.
The unusual combination of tomato leaf and pitosporum sits at the heart of this fragrance. Tomato leaf, the crushed green of stems, the smell of a kitchen garden after rain, is not a common perfumery material. Pitosporum, a white flower from the pittosporum plant, adds a quiet sweetness that keeps the green from becoming harsh. Together they create a botanical character that's specific and slightly strange. The base of patchouli and oakmoss grounds the composition in earth, giving the lifted green notes somewhere to settle. The architecture is deliberate: top notes that suggest vertical space, heart notes that compress that space into something dense, base notes that pull it back toward the ground.
The evolution
The opening arrives sharp and aromatic, absinthe's bitter green bite, petitgrain's citrus-sharp edge, thyme warm and herbal at the periphery. The absinthe and petitgrain fight for dominance for about twenty minutes before settling into something cleaner. Then the heart takes over. Pitosporum's white florals emerge alongside the herbal character, softening the initial sharpness into something greener and more botanical. The transition from opening to heart is the fragrance's quietest moment, the sillage drops from moderate to intimate. The base arrives gradually. Patchouli brings its earthy, slightly fermented depth. Oakmoss adds a mossy, humid quality that reinforces the forest-floor impression. By the end, what started as green architecture has become something that smells like a compressed forest, humid, natural, close to skin. The longevity is respected by enthusiasts and performs reliably across most wearers. On hair, the drydown can last into the next day.
Cultural impact
Bosco Sospeso occupies a specific niche: green fragrances for people who think about architecture. The combination of absinthe, tomato leaf, and pitosporum creates a botanical character that reads as conceptual rather than decorative. It's the kind of fragrance that attracts people who've already moved past mainstream florals and orientals and want something that references a place or an idea. The Step Aboard positioning, gender-fluid, urban, for hair and body, appeals to a wearer who treats scent as part of daily living rather than occasion dressing.
The House
Step AboardStep Aboard is a Milan-based fragrance house creating gender-fluid scents that blur the line between perfume and personal care. Founded in 2016 by Georgiana Mocanu and Daniele Morando, the brand emerged from a specific practical need: the founders sought a fragrance compatible with both skin and hair, leading them to develop formulas that perform across multiple surfaces. Their collection takes inspiration from urban landscapes, Italian geography, and everyday moments, with fragrance names referencing places like Milano Centrale and Sunday Street alongside more conceptual titles such as Infinite Square and Transitions Gate. The brand presents its scents as accessible experiences rather than luxury statements, positioning itself at the intersection of functional fragrance and artistic expression.
The Creator
Bertrand DuchaufourDuchaufour is the master of smoke and shadow, of incense rendered with painterly depth rather than theatrical force. Where many perfumers treat frankincense as a single note, he builds incense as a tonal range, capable of austerity or warmth depending on what the fragrance dem…
