The history of Cire Trudon Candles begins back in 1643, when Claude Trudon the owner of a boutique on the rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, developed his activity as a grocer and candle-maker, mainly supplying wax candles to churches and parishes. He created a house that would make his family’s fortune as his candles quickly became noticed and used by the French Royal family and exclusively used in Versailles. Today Maison Trudon is the epitome of luxury interiors, craftmanship, and Royalty.

Its CEO Laurent Delafon, who co-founded United Perfumes, a high-end scent licensing and distribution company, manages Cire Trudon alongside Fornasetti Profumi and Anya Hindmarch Smells. Delafon is a smart, eloquent, and passionate leader who brings the brand to its next level and encourages collaborations with the wide spectrum of the creative industry working with talents such as Giambattista Valli, Valentino, S.T. Dupont, and Maison Dada.

Part of this expansion included the recent opening of a very chic showroom in London on Chiltern Street, opposite André Balazs’ Chiltern Firehouse in November 2019. Designed by Martin Steele Architects (Jo Malone and Harry Miller’s stores among many other projects), the boutique celebrates Trudon’s landmarks and history. The secret private back room features a bespoke Marie Antoinette dressing table which was given a contemporary twist with copper, glass, and solid oak moulding. This intimate room should soon be used for invitation-only events and what the brand calls the ‘Ce Soir’ supper clubs.

With stores in Paris, New York, Seoul and now London, the full collections of the most-loved scents are on display in the beautiful window of the store, including best-seller candles and perfumes titled “by Ernesto and Abd El Kader”, the Les Belles Matières collection as well as the Cire Trudon x Giambattista Valli Limited Edition Positano and Rose Poivre candles among others. It really can’t get any more artistic and luxurious.

The store is also home to a selection of neon, pastel and neutral coloured dinner candles, scented matches, room sprays, wax busts and the complete collection of Eau de Parfums, each one totally unique and created by a Master Perfumer.

At the hear of the Maison Trudon is the wax. Located in Mortagne-au-Perche, in Normandy, France since 1901, Cire Trudon’s 20th century factory is part of the Perche regional Nature Park. The Park’s mission is to protect the environment, through actions that help preserve its biodiversity, water resources as well as guide a sustainable urban growth. It seeks to preserve and highlight the regional heritage and protect bees. “I believe that contributing to the protection of a species as vital to life and symbolic of our Maison, but unfortunately greatly endangered, is a duty. For centuries we have benefited from the work of bees. Today it is essential that we commit, in concrete terms, and contribute to raising public awareness.” Julien Pruvost, Creative Director of Maison Trudon said about the Park and its mission.

Maison Trudon’s history is also linked to France’s Réunion des Musées Nationaux (the French National Museum Council). The house was granted the rights to reproduce famous busts of French historical figures, a significant theme for the brand which was commissioned by France’s Manufacture Royale de Cire. Immortalized in a 7-meter high monumental sculpture by François Girardon (1699), the ‘Louis XIV à cheval’ took centre stage Place Vendôme before the statue was raised to the ground, in 1792, during the French revolution. Today stored in the Musée du Louvre, the bust still stands tall. It is reproduced in a smaller scale by Trudon. These smaller-size busts – others include Louise and Alexandre, the children of architect Alexandre- Théodore Brongniart and Napoleon, take centrestage in the Chiltern Street’s boutique.

Collaborations with artists and illustrators continue today with British painter and illustrator Lawrence Mynott who recently created an original drawing for each one of the fragrances, used for the wrapping boxes and the website. A graduate of Chelsea School of Art and The Royal College of Art, Mynott’s work has been exhibited at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and at the National Portrait Gallery, London.