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Creating Beautiful Interiors with Apsley and Company Candles
Interview with Helen Armstrong from Apsley and Company We’re in love with the heavenly scented candles from Melbourne-based brand & candle store, Apsley and Company! Also known for their exquisite home fragrances, their luxury candles and home fragrances have been creating nurturing interiors for over 25 years. Established in Australia in 1995, the company’s early success at home opened the door to international demand. Apsley and Company now supply more than 200 home fragrance products to over 20 countries. Cybus Home Fragrance. Image: Apsley and Company Apsley and Company will be exhibiting at Decor + Design and the Australian International Furniture Fair (AIFF) in Melbourne from 14 -17 July 2022. Register now as a trade visitor to see their stunning collections at Stand I24. In the lead up to the event, we spoke to founder Helen Armstrong about what’s been happening and what visitors can expect to see at the show. Helen, what’s been happening for Apsley in the first half of 2022? It’s been a crazy six months! On the product side, the good news is that everyone loves home fragrance. It’s now an essential element in home styling. If you are working from home, there’s nothing like having a fragrant environment to work in. If instead you’re coming home after a long day at work, there’s nothing like that signature ambient scent of a diffuser fragrance to welcome you as you walk in the door! Just light a beautifully scented candle to create a relaxing atmosphere, and you are truly home. Image: Apsley and Company We have seen a significant trend towards candles becoming larger as well as being décor pieces, with a preference for vessels that can be repurposed. It’s not enough to have a simple candle in a jar. Consumers want a candle to do more – it has to smell but also has to look stylish. Consumers are definitely looking for more complex and sophisticated fragrances from our brand. They want something that creates a signature fragrance for their space, that is instantly recognisable as them. On the biz side – it’s been a rollercoaster! Finally being able to travel to visit interstate and overseas customers. There is nothing like a face-to-face meeting to talk through business and product issues and share views – Zoom is great, but in person is even better! We still have issues going to our HK office and China Factory due to Quarantine requirements (7 days for HK and 14 days for China, which is just not feasible). When it comes to logistics , we still have so many issues. A container now costs us 3 times what it cost 12 months ago. New environmental regulations in relation to shipping fragrance has meant that the process is also now so much more complex and expensive. Physically obtaining a container to ship the goods worldwide is also a problem (we use HK as a hub). So much demand for containers and port closures due to Covid in China, has meant significant delays in getting bookings. Due to quarantine requirements, it’s extremely challenging to move raw materials (glass etc) across provinces and finished goods over international borders. Many of our raw materials come from Europe and the US even though we manufacture in China. Container shortages and shipping delays have proven very challenging! Costs have also spiralled. Our waxes come from the US and Indonesia. There’s been over a 100% price increase in 12 months! Fragrance, raw materials etc. The costs have increased exponentially due to logistical issues (time and cost to move components around the world as a result of Covid and the current issues in the Ukraine), increased demand for consumer goods during Covid that put a strain on supplies and reduced production particularly of some botanical elements that are used in fragrance production. Image: Apsley and Company Can you give us any exciting examples of recent clients/projects? We have been quietly working away developing our international markets and are very excited to see the growth of our business in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands and Belgium! The European market loves big statement candles and diffusers, and they are a must have décor accessory. The bigger the better! Our distributor has done a marvellous job on developing this market. Although there are a couple of competitors in this luxury sector, customers love our products as our candles are considered to have better fragrance throw, our diffusers have greater longevity and our packaging is far more attractive and suited for gifting. It’s been an interesting learning curve for us, as we made a ‘brave’ decision to remove branding labels from our pieces as we felt it added to the allure of the piece. However, the Europeans have insisted on us adding label branding – it’s very much a situation of wanting to brag about how much they spent on a luxury product, rather than the product speaking for itself. Image: Apsley and Company How do you ensure quality and sustainability in your candles? We design our products with a second life in mind. Our pieces have been designed to be reused or repurposed and not thrown away. There are refills for all diffusers and some of our candles. Unfortunately, due to the artisan made glass, making a candle refill that fits all the glass vessels with concave bases is not so easy to achieve, so it is still a project we are working on. We have been in business nearly 25 years and 60% of our business is export, which we consider is a testament to the quality of the products that we design and manufacture. We have rigorous checking in place at many stages throughout our manufacturing process to ensure every product is perfect before it leaves the factory. We want every customer to experience that ‘wow’ feeling when they open and use one of our products. We’re so excited you’ll be back exhibiting at Decor + Design in 2022. Why did you decide to exhibit this year? What can visitors expect to see at your stand? Image: Apsley and Company We love Decor + Design because it creates such a beautiful event for visitors to experience the latest and most beautiful/interesting décor pieces. We have been keen to exhibit and show some of the new developments we have been working on for the past couple of years and we understand that designers and buyers love to touch and feel, rather than ‘just add to cart’. It also gives us the opportunity to talk one on one and to share the stories behind the curated fragrance developments, what inspires us and how we create really special luxury pieces. We have several exciting new lines and have continued to work on designing items that combine both exquisite fragrance and a luxury décor element. Aside from launching our beautiful new monochrome Glimpse range for Apsley and Company , we are also bringing along our two sister brands, Abode Aroma and Scented Space . Both have some extraordinary pieces to show. The new Glimpse range. Image: Apsley and Company The new Cybus range from the Abode Aroma brand (picture near top of article), features some substantial, hand cut, minimalist crystal pieces. These are true statement pieces and would suit many decors. We also felt it was time to celebrate life, as it’s been such a tough couple of years. So, we have created a glamourous Celebrate range for Scented Space that features an exquisite cashmerian bespoke fragrance in spectacular champagne coloured Mercury glass. The star of the range is a 4-kilo scented soy candle – a must have piece! Image: Apsley and Company Don’t miss seeing the latest collections from Apsley and Company at Decor + Design and the Australian International Furniture Fair (AIFF), 14 – 17 July at Melbourne Exhibition Centre. Entry to the exhibition is free but limited to trade visitors. Register now ! Seminar Series tickets range from $55 – $75. Speakers include David Hicks, Collette Dinnigan, David Flack, Shaynna Blaze, Jamie Durie and many more.
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Burning Bright. In conversation with our Co Founder & Director, Helen Armstrong.
To mark International Women’s Day, we’re issuing an ode to the inspiring doyenne behind Apsley and Company. Meet Helen Armstrong - our eclectic, prolific and consistently on-the-pulse Co-Founder and Director. From her quirky yet classically chic sartorial tendencies to her uniquely forward-thinking approach towards all things fragrance and business, it’s clear that Helen is a contagiously vibrant source of inspiration for trailblazing businesswomen everywhere. Ladies, take note. An avid trend-watcher, Helen ardently stays in tune with movements in varying industries from beauty, to fashion, food, technology and lifestyle frontiers, propelling her creativity at the helm of Apsley and Company. When scouring for new inspiration, you can find her airport-bound or recalling still-potent memories of faraway places. Somehow, despite constantly gallivanting across the globe and running a fragrance mecca, Helen manages to stay on-top of everything ‘happening’ in the industry.. She’s renowned for poring over her morning newspaper, trawling through digital publications, never missing a beat on socials and keeping up with an inexhaustible deluge of emails, highlighting a strong proclivity for hard work and success. It is very evident this dedication has lead to the success of Scented Space, Abode Aroma and Apsley and Company - innovative, beautiful and the highest quality home fragrance brands. But, like all inaugural business ventures, it wasn’t naturally smooth sailing from the outset. “[My business partner and I] soon realised just how little we knew about the industry. It was a totally different world from where we had come, but I loved it from day one.” Nurturing a deep love of interiors, an innate flair for design, but having spent years working as a HR Executive in beer, steel and automotive parts, Helen relished just how “fabulous” the transition was in moving from a masculine industry. To walk a day in Helen’s shoes would be completely unpredictable, with most weeks differentiating from the last. One week could entail gallivanting through oriental countries to meet with international customers, while the next may see her knuckling down at the desk with the team to handle vital business admin and operations. If you’re wondering what exactly goes on behind the scenes at Apsley and Company HQ, we’re running you through what a “typical”day looks like when she’s on home soil... 5:30am – Commences the morning by sieving through newspaper headlines and social media, keeping up with all industry news and opportunities pertinent to Apsley and Company. 6am – Out the door. 6:45am - Arrive at the gym. 8am - Hit the desk! First up, sift through and actions emails that have come in overnight, keeping in mind that “60% of our business is offshore so there’s always a dense inbox waiting each morning.” 9am - Consult with the wider team to go through what’s happening for the day and what needs to be made priority. 9:30am-5pm - Work on product design and development for local and international customers, followed by account management issues for major international customers. This covers everything from logistics through to fragrance development. 5:30pm – Time to head home. 6:30pm – Discuss what has occurred during the day and what issues call for some major decision-making with her business partner. Evening: Winding down by indulging in a true love of cooking and gardening, and sipping on a well-deserved glass of Chardonnay. Helen’s absolute drink of choice! On her most triumphant moment in business so far, it’s no surprise that Helen recalls when Apsley and Company was accepted to flaunt their products at the New York Gift Fair, marking the brand’s glorious foray into the Big Apple. Following the showcase, both Anthropologie and Club Monaco placed orders with the business, proving to be a monumental victory for Apsley and Company, as well as a true testament to the superior quality of each product, and Helen’s prowess in proliferating the international market. Always generous with her time and wealth of knowledge, Helen has offered to impart some golden advice for women hoping to fiercely pursue their ambitions. She adamantly encourages the understanding of cash flow cycle in business, maintaining that it “can make or break you,” while on the HR front, it’s all about hiring on “attitude over ability” every time. Helen reminds us to perpetually treat others the way you would like to be treated and rallies behind the notion of diversity within the workplace. “Different views and opinions means you are more likely to create a product or service that will appeal to many, not just a few,” she notes. Forward-thinking, vivacious and eternally exuding creativity, Helen is a veritable inspiration for the Apsley and Company team, as well as any aspiring businesswoman striving to reach the pinnacle of their career goals. After sitting down with Helen to distil what exactly has allowed for her remarkable success, we’re saluting a tall glass of Chardonnay to every extraordinary woman challenging the status quo in leading industry roles. Above all else, we hope that Helen’s story has empowered you to commence every day as if it were International Women’s Day.
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