Luxury Publisher Assouline Launches a Travel-Inspired Candle Collection
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Luxury French book publisher Assouline is no stranger to homes. Across the globe, well-appointed tables and shelves feature the famed brand’s aspirational, limited-edition books. The impeccably-designed and crafted books on hyper-niche topics have become status symbols unto themselves. But the family-owned brand is about to become even more synonymous with the home, thanks to the launch of their interior decor line, beginning with a new collection of scented candles.
Inspired by Assouline’s best-selling Travel Series titles, each scented candle—perfumed by famous nose Jérôme Epinette—transports to six destinations: Mykonos, Tulum, Marrakech, Ibiza, Gstaad, and the Moon. The scents are intended to mimic the essence of the locale, encapsulating the getaway into a single objet d'art.
The candle’s vessel and outer packaging play off the books’ blithe, bold covers. “As a graphic company, packaging is everything to us,” Alex Assouline, the brand’s chief of operations, brand and strategy, exclusively tells BAZAAR.com. “We pride ourselves on being very meticulous on the details behind the design of our products. We wanted to make sure the composition of our candles was reflective of our books with the same colors and symbols. We also wanted the motifs to blend and marry well with any interior.”
There are currently 34 destinations in the Assouline Travel Series collection, from Cairo to the Metaverse, but the brand has narrowed the locations down to six of the family’s favorites, to start at least. “When making the selection we were mindful to have a good range of colors and destinations,” says Assouline. “We pulled Gstaad into the mix to help support a wintery scent. We loved Ibiza and Mykonos because of the colors and how beloved these destinations are,” he adds. “Marrakech represents our Moroccan roots and finally we wanted a destination based in the Americas so Tulum ended up being the perfect fit. And the Moon was chosen as an element of surprise; it is an unexpected destination that leaves room for interpretation.”
For Assouline, the son of the glamorous brand's founders Prosper and Martine, these getaways have ties to very specific scent memories, too. In Marrakech as a teenager, he experienced the “delicate but delightful” smell of orange blossoms while walking through the garden of La Mamounia with his father (“an important memory that reminded me of our Moroccan roots,” he notes). Or take Gstaad, where he gathered with friends around the fireplace, while the open windows wafted in the cold air and the sharp scent of pine trees. And what about the candle inspired by the Moon, of all places? The candle is based on Moon Paradise by Sarah Cruddas, one of the Travel Series’ most unexpected books, which dives into not only the exploration of the Moon landings, but also the fashion, art, and cinema inspired by the Earth’s only natural satellite. It’s one of Assouline’s favorite topics, too. “The Moon is very interesting to me because the interpretation is very subjective,” he says. “I see it as a free-spirited idea that comes to life from the science fiction movies I watched so incessantly as a child.”
The candle’s scents are just as wholly unusual as the imagery, too. Crafted by esteemed perfumer Epinette, the scents dutifully capture exotic locales in just a single sniff. “Jerome really understood our family’s references and was able to transcribe our thoughts into fantastic fragrances that we’re very proud of,” says Assouline. “The process for us was to close our eyes and describe what we saw, carrying the note and feel of each destination.” The partnership between the publishing house and nose came organically, aligned through social connections in New York. “We clicked and aligned on our vision for the candles,” notes Assouline. And Epinette agrees: “The inspiration was almost immediate,” he says. “I became immersed in the travel books, where turning each page almost literally carried me to dreams of far-off destinations and beyond. With such rich and vivid prompts, creating corresponding scents came naturally.”
For Epinette, the collaboration was intrinsic. “Books and scent both have the incredible ability to evoke wanderlust and instantly engage—and so this was quite a natural and organic translation,” he says. “We really wanted to leverage the idea of creativity, context, and exquisite style that comes through in each publication and express it via scent using the highest quality, thoughtfully-sourced ingredients and innovative formulas."
How does one capture the spirit, the joie de vivre, of a location into an 11-ounce object? Epinette took the travel-inspired line as an opportunity to create scents that could transport, an invitation to travel (instantaneous with the light of the wick), of sorts. “This meant using specific ingredients that tied to each of the destinations in terms of provenance, but also evoked their authentic spirit and energy,” notes the nose. For the destination that possesses no (known) scent, that proved an opportunity for scent exploration. “For something like the moon, this required a bit of imagination and fantasy, so I tried to convey my vision by creating unique accords, like moon sand, that, for me, is how the moon should smell–beautiful, inviting yet always a bit mysterious,” he adds.
What’s next for Assouline’s new venture into the home? “As we see Assouline developing into more of a luxury lifestyle brand, we wanted to add objects into our brand experience,” adds the chief of operations, brand and strategy. “It took years of research and development to curate a product that matched the level of quality that we have with our books. We are evolving more and more into the interior space as we currently offer objects from other brands that complement a contemporary library. Our candles are the first step into the expansion of the brand.”
The Assouline Travel from Home Candle Collection is available now, retailing for $80 each.
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