It’s not surprising that Trudon’s latest home fragrance collection is inspired by Versailles. After all, the French candlemakers were the first and only ones to be the Royal Manufacture for the monarchy, eventually adopting the motto ‘Deo Regique Laborant’ or ‘They work for God and the King’ (‘they’ being the bees that produce its signature white beeswax candles).
And they already have a range of Versailles-related candles including Solis Rex, inspired by the Hall of Mirrors, and Trianon, a homage to Marie Antoinette’s country village; and wax busts in the shape of Antoinette and Louis XIV.
Trudon’s new home collection pays tribute to the gardens of Versailles
This new collection, though, pays tribute to a lesser known (but no less extravagant), aspect of the palace’s history: the ‘feasts’ of the place, instigated by Louis XIV and continued after his reign. These extraordinary multi-day events, also known as the ‘pleasures’ of the King, were held in the palace gardens and featured everything from theatrical performances, to parades, horse races, lotteries, and visits to the Menagerie or ‘place of pageantry’ that housed a range of exotic animals including elephants and ostriches.
The ‘Versailles: A Moveable Feast’ collection translates that illustrious history into a scent designed by Emilie Bouge, the nose behind Trudon’s iconic ‘Ernesto’ candle. The refreshing, floral scent of draws from the natural perfume of its gardens, with notes of peony, tulip blossom, tuberose, and honeysuckle.
To develop the candle, the Trudon team scoured historical documents in the Versailles City Library, including a book written by Louis XIV himself in which he walks readers through every corner of the iconic gardens.
‘We were particularly interested in those moments that occurred outdoors, where they had fireworks and decorated the gardens with these temporary wooden structures to add even more embellishment,’ says Trudon’s CEO and Creative Director Julien Pruvost. ‘And, of course, the fountains of Versailles, which were a tremendous technical feat back then.’
The powder blue colour of the candle’s container is inspired by those fountains, as well as the paintings of the open sky that can be found all over the palace’s interiors. On the outside of the box are illustrations drawn from the archives which show one of the wooden structures and a silhouette of the palace with fireworks around it.
This year marks Trudon’s 381st anniversary. ‘If you look back at that 380-plus years, what you see is essentially a company evolved in making light bulbs,’ Pruvost says, when asked how the brand has managed to survive for so long and how it will continue to push on into the future. ‘It’s only fairly recently in the company’s history that we don’t have a really strong functional aspect, since these candles were originally made to help see after dark and to convey a sense of spirituality within the church.’
‘The decorative history of the company is still quite young and small comparatively. But that is the way we’re staying relevant; by transforming this know-how and production capacity that has never ceased to function for a modern audience,’ he continues. ‘We’ve never stopped manufacturing our own products, and we've never stopped improving the state of our art.’
