AVAU

Q: Who creates AVAU’s fragrances?

Co-founder [Caterina Catalani](/perfumer/caterina-catalani) develops the fragrances in-house, working with Leonardo as Creative Director and Carolina as Strategy Director.

Three siblings, an in-house perfumer and a personal promise: AVAU brings an Italian family’s fragrance heritage into its own perfumes.

Italy

All fragrances

Origin: Italy
Founders: Leonardo, Carolina and Caterina Catalani
Perfumer: Caterina Catalani, in-house development
Brand debut: March 2025
Name: A phonetic rendering of “a vow”
At Parfinity: 0 fragrances to sample

The story

AVAU is the Italian perfume house founded by Leonardo, Carolina and Caterina Catalani. Its name echoes “a vow”, a promise. For the founders, that promise is personal: choosing a fragrance according to what feels right to its wearer.

Their roles complement one another. Leonardo directs the creative work, Carolina leads strategy and Caterina composes the fragrances. Together, they develop scent and visual design as parts of the same collection.

01 · Family

Three roles, one shared direction

The family’s connection to perfumery spans three generations. Their grandparents ran a perfumery in Vatican City, and their parents later established the distributor Finmark. Choosing a fragrance was part of the siblings’ everyday lives from childhood.

At AVAU, Leonardo’s visual direction meets Carolina’s strategic perspective and Caterina’s knowledge of composition. That shared background provides the starting point for a perfume house of their own.

02 · Composition

Caterina’s approach to materials

Caterina develops AVAU’s fragrances in-house. In her interview with AMICA, she describes raw materials as the starting point of her work, looking for facets that lie beyond a familiar first impression.

After studying perfumery in Grasse, she worked at Floris in London. AVAU gives her the scope to develop compositions within the family’s own creative direction and in close conversation with her siblings.

03 · Design

A small stage for the fragrance

The packaging carries the promise in the brand’s name into a physical form. The cap follows the AVAU emblem, while a sculpted inner frame surrounds the bottle. The brand describes this presentation as a miniature stage.

Designed in Italy, the bottle, outer box and finishing details are intended to express each fragrance as a coherent object.

Sample without risk

Discover AVAU at home

Choose five AVAU fragrances as 2 ml samples for your Parfinity Box. You get the box value back as a discount code - applied in full from a €150 cart.

Your individual Parfinity Box

Choose any 5 fragrances
Wear every fragrance more than once
50 € discount code back, in full from 150 €

Choose AVAU fragrances

The nose

The perfumer behind AVAU

Caterina Catalani

Caterina Catalani is an Italian perfumer and co-founder of AVAU. She grew up in a family whose involvement in perfumery spans three generations.

Discover more about Caterina Catalani

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What does AVAU mean?

The name echoes the English phrase “a vow”. The founders connect it with a personal promise: choosing a fragrance that feels right to the person wearing it.

Who creates AVAU’s fragrances?

Co-founder Caterina Catalani develops the fragrances in-house, working with Leonardo as Creative Director and Carolina as Strategy Director.

Are AVAU fragrances unisex?

AVAU creates fragrances for all genders and encourages choosing according to personal taste and response to the scent.

Wear First. Love Forever.

Which story will you wear on your skin?

Build your AVAU selection and get to know each fragrance where it matters: in everyday life, on your skin, and without time pressure.

Sample AVAU now www.avauparfum.com/