The Story
Why it exists.
Ben Gorham traveled to Rio de Janeiro and kept hearing a phrase he couldn't quite translate: alto astral. In Brazilian Portuguese, it describes someone who radiates positive energy so strongly that everyone around feels it too. For Gorham, it became more than words. He wanted to capture that sensation of walking through Rio at golden hour, when the city's rhythm shifts from hustle to something warmer and slower. The result is a fragrance built on contrasts that define Brazil itself.
If this were a song
Community picks
Mas Que Nada
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
The Beginning
Ben Gorham traveled to Rio de Janeiro and kept hearing a phrase he couldn't quite translate: alto astral. In Brazilian Portuguese, it describes someone who radiates positive energy so strongly that everyone around feels it too. For Gorham, it became more than words. He wanted to capture that sensation of walking through Rio at golden hour, when the city's rhythm shifts from hustle to something warmer and slower. The result is a fragrance built on contrasts that define Brazil itself.
Working with longtime collaborator Jérôme Epinette, Gorham shaped the composition around dualities. Bright coconut water against smoky frankincense. Crisp aldehydes against soft cashmeran. The campaign, directed by Brazilian filmmaker Breno Moreira and photographed by Rio-born Rafael Moura, unfolds across three visual acts (dance, beach, street) that treat joy not as performance but as identity.
The Evolution
The opening bursts with clean, fizzy coconut lifted by sharp aldehydes. Not sunscreen, not tropical cocktail. Closer to cracking open a fresh coconut with a metallic sparkle underneath. Within twenty minutes, jasmine weaves in with creamy sweetness while musk draws everything closer to skin. Frankincense arrives quietly, lending smoky reverence that surprises anyone expecting a straightforward beach scent. By hour three, the base takes over: cashmeran's cashmere-soft warmth, milky sandalwood, and a halo of amber that feels like sunlight stored in skin. The dry path narrows to a gentle, powdery murmur.
Cultural Impact
Alto Astral marks Byredo's first fragrance explicitly inspired by Brazilian culture. The name, a Portuguese expression meaning something like 'high spirits' or 'radiant energy,' has no clean English translation. The campaign was shot entirely on location in Rio by Carioca photographer Rafael Moura, featuring samba dancer Duda Almeida and model Emilly Nunes. It positions Byredo in the growing 'joyful fragrance' category that gained momentum post-pandemic, where wearers seek scents that actively uplift rather than simply smell pleasant.
The House
Sweden · Est. 2006
Founded in Stockholm by Ben Gorham, Byredo distills memory and emotion into minimalist fragrance. Each scent is a narrative — from the dusty roads of Jaipur to the anonymity of a crowded city. The house rejects the ornate traditions of European perfumery in favor of restrained Scandinavian design, letting raw materials speak with startling clarity.
The Creator
Jérôme EpinetteByredo was founded in 2006 by Ben Gorham, a Swedish-Indian former basketball player turned perfumer. Built on minimalist Scandinavian design and emotionally resonant scents, each fragrance tells a story rooted in Gorham's personal memories and cultural encounters. Now part of the Puig portfolio.
If this were a song
Community picks
A playlist that mirrors Alto Astral's sun-drenched warmth. Bossa nova rhythms meet modern R&B smoothness, like golden hour on Copacabana with the windows down.
Mas Que Nada
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
