In 19^th century Argentina, two very different families crossed paths. Their meeting resulted in a major contribution to leading Argentina into a modern future. In 1862, General Bartolomé Mitre became the first president of the independent, freshly reunited Argentina. He sought investors to build a railway line connecting the interior with the capital, Buenos Aires. He found his backers in Charles and Walter Morrison, who put up funds for the railway that would support the journey of the young country on its way to industrialization.140 years later, two of their descendants met and fell in love: Marina Sersale, great-great-granddaughter of James Morrison, a documentary filmmaker who grew up in Italy and England, and Sebastián Alvarez Murena, the great-great-grandson of Bartolomé Mitre, who grew up in his native Argentina, but works as a journalist in Italy. When they learned of the shared history of their families – a union between them, so to speak, already formed so long ago – the couple were inspired to create a fragrance collection based on the extraordinary story. Launched in 2012, ALTAIA – an acronym of A Long Time Ago In Argentina – is the expression of Marina and Sebastian’s love of artistic perfumes and the stories they tell.