More about ALTAIA
In the 19th century, the paths of two very different families crossed in the vast expanses of Argentina. Their encounter played a decisive role in leading Argentina into a modern future.
General Bartolomé Mitre, a statesman and intellectual, became the first president of a united Argentina in 1862. One of his first decisions was to open the country to foreign investors with the aim of building a railway line to connect the interior with the capital, thereby further uniting the country.
Charles and Walter Morrison, whose father James Morrison, originally from a humble background, became one of the most prominent entrepreneurs of Victorian England, saw a good opportunity to invest in Argentina. So they invested part of their father's fortune in the railway line and other ventures to support the young country in its development and on its path to industrialisation.
140 years later, two of their descendants met and fell in love. This is the story of ALTAIA.
Marina & Sebastián
Marina Sersale is the great-great-granddaughter of James Morrison. She grew up in Italy and England and pursued a career as a documentary filmmaker. Sebastián Alvarez Murena is the great-great-grandson of Bartolomé Mitre. After living in Argentina, Spain and Switzerland, he settled in Italy as a journalist, where he met Marina in 2001. They fell in love and got married.
Together, they launched Eau d'Italie in 2004, an exclusive perfume line dedicated to Positano and other favourite places in Italy. The discovery of this extraordinary story, which had connected their families for so long, inspired them to launch a new perfume collection called ALTAIA in 2012.
ALTAIA, an acronym for ‘A Long Time Ago In Argentina,’ is an expression of Marina and Sebastián's love for artistic perfumes and their admiration for how perfumes can tell stories – just like the extraordinary circumstances of their shared past.
Each of the Eaux de Parfum contains olfactory elements that connect their past and present – lovingly created perfumes that are timeless yet contemporary.
Marina and Sebastián have kept the packaging modern, elegant and simple, allowing the fragrances to speak for themselves and giving you the opportunity to explore them in your own unique way.