The Next Big Thing in Candles Smells Weird
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There’s always a new trend in candles. For a while, it was wooden wicks. Then it was weird sculptural forms. Then everything was a blob. Now, it might be nostalgic, real-world scents.
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Over the last 17 years, Joya Studio and its founder Frederick Bouchardy have been consistently ahead of the curve when it comes to candle shaping and fragrance selection. Their Haas Brothers collaboration sold out of Barneys New York the morning it hit the floor. Their new partner? Mark Iacono, founder of the Brooklyn pizza joint (one might say restaurant), with whom they are releasing three candles: “Al Forno,” which is reminiscent of the herbs on their pizza, “Caffé Corretto,” which smells of espresso, cinnamon, and star anise scents, and “Sautéed Garlic,” which is just fucking great.
Lucali & Joya "Al Forno" Scented Candle
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“Mark asked me, ‘Do you know what my favorite smell is?’ and started to walk me back to the kitchen,” says Bouchardy. “He peeled some garlic, threw it in a cast iron skillet, and stuck it in the oven.”
In a few moments, the smell wafted through the kitchen, bringing back memories of home cooking and family dinners. And that was it. The collaboration was underway. Bouchardy admits that the whole thing is a bit funny, but also wanted to lean into sense memory. For people that come home to that smell or came home to it as children – maybe in Brooklyn, maybe not so much – it conjures something. Love. Care. Closeness.
“It was an experiment for us,” says Bouchardy. “We said to each other, ‘This is a good smell. Everyone likes this smell. Do you want to have a candle that smells like this? Would you gift it to someone? Would you buy it for someone that loves food, or loves garlic, or loves Lucali, or loves us?’ I think so.”
Also, from a scent-making perspective, Bouchardy thought it was an interesting challenge. Sauteed garlic isn’t a naturally occurring scent (outside of Little Italy) so Bouchardy had to find a way to render it. Traditionally, synthesizing scents runs from deeper woody ones to lighter floral ones. He had to combine lots of notes to find the perfect balance. There was also the question of marketing? The smell was so far away from a typical sandalwood that sales didn’t seem at all inevitable. The candles were a bet – kind of a wild one.
It paid off. The candles have been selling like hotcakes all year since their release. So much so, that while Joya still produces all kinds of candles—sculptural, floral, and everything in between—it’s taking a deeper look at produced scents, nostalgic fragrances that conjure a memory more than evoke a plant or fruit. If the Lucali collab was any indicator, there’s a lot of other foods and partnerships out there.
“We’re working with Dominique Ansel now too. We’re trying to take on some of their favorite things,” Bouchardy says of the famed Soho Bakery. “Old, retro flavors have a way of living on in your sense of smell.”
Lucali & Joya "Caffè Corretto" Scented Candle
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Lucali & Joya "Aglio" Sautéed Garlic Scented Candle (Special Edition)
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