SORA DORA

SORA DORA

Antoine Soradora was born on a wednesday 16 july 1902, in Loulé, under the sweltering heat of the small town in the south of Portugal. On this spit of land where the cliffs pretend to break under the crashing of the waves, the foam of the freshly risen sea twirls in the wind and reminds us how light life is.

Antoine Soradora's parents lived all their lives from farming. very religious, the young man accompanied them every sunday to the church of Saint-Clément.

Antoine Soradora was a loner. his elders saw in him the makings of a future priest, so wise and thoughtful was the child.

But secretly the young man felt an intimate and mysterious stirring.

The intoxication of scents and smells. and god knows that through the plains and undergrowth that he crossed in the course of the seasons, they never ceased to swirl in his mind, awakening his senses and his inspiration.

He had a particular attention for each of the scents that define the contours of his daily environment.

From lavender hanging wildly on the roadside, from the fusion of earth and water, from the gush of a spring at the edge of an undergrowth, from peat and hay, from freshly cut grass in spring, from flowers and fruits.

The year is 1920. although his father taught him to love the land, at the age of 18, Antoine Soradora is faced with a dilemma: to follow the path that has been laid out for him or to leave his country and live his life to the full.

While the wet and mild winter seems to drag on, the young man learns a piece of news that will change the course of his life: "France is recruiting foreign labour to supply its large mining operations," his friend Sandro tells him on a street corner.

Without looking back, Antoine Soradora takes the decision to leave his native land.

The journey was hard but he finally managed to reach the Bouches-Du-Rhône and more precisely a small village called Gréasque.

On the spot, he was welcomed by a french family who gave him a modest shed at the bottom of their garden as a home.

The young man was very happy. his first sign of gratitude to the family was to transform this virgin land into a little paradise. a garden of eden in Provence, filled with flowers, fruit trees and hundreds of varieties of aromatic plants.

During this period, his days were spent working in the mine and tending his garden. when he had free time, antoine soradora went to discover the region. during his visits, he fell in love with the town of grasse.

On the heights of the little town, the young man had the happy encounter of etienne, a jasmine grower who had come to admire the view. the man, tall and slender and 20 years older than him, had kept the childlike soul that made him sensitive and comforting.

The two men quickly became friends and a natural complicity was born from their common passion for plants.

Antoine Soradora showed him his garden and aroused the wonder of the farmer. The boy from Loulé had now become the head gardener of the jasmine farm. In secret, he started to work on a new project with his friend. Antoine Soradora and Etienne put their knowledge and sensitivity to good use, and experimented with perfumes. Thanks to the capital gained from the jasmine cultivation the two men had the freedom to order all the raw materials they needed for their work.

On the death of his friend, Antoine Soradora was entrusted with the keys to the project.

He put his creativity at the service of scents and produced his first perfume only one year after taking over the reins of the workshop.

The young man then discovers the small bars of the city of Aix-en-Provence. There he met rose, a gréasquienne, who was to become his wife.

With her, he had three daughters to whom he passed on all his know-how with gentleness and high standards.

Today, Soradora, named after this portuguese immigrant, has become a prestigious perfume brand for four generations. In the seven fragrances of the 2021 collection you will find all the power and emotion of the journey of this man who left his country and his loved ones to fulfil his dream.