I have been following the work of smell scientist Sissel Tolaas for many years, as I run a sensory design course at Rennes School of Business where I feature some of her work.

Last year, she developed an aroma for the XXL Balenciaga candle based on real-life olfactory recordings produced from her own aroma capture molecule extraction device.

She extracted smells from the walls of Balenciaga’s historic couture house at 10 avenue George V in Paris being one with an impressive history. One of the 60 businesses allowed to operate in France during Nazi occupation, surviving the severe impact of the second world on the fashion industry. She also collected molecules from key pieces from the Balenciaga archive and objects that belonged to Cristóbal Balenciaga himself.

The result is a remarkable olfactory documentation of Balenciaga’s history, from the couture house’s opening in 1937 to its closure in 1968 and its reopening in 2021.

When you open the candle’s mirror you will be blasted with an intoxicating mix of burnt incense, tobacco smoke, warm skin, old paper, tanned leather, aged wool, delicate silk, exotic fur, oak, and the oiled metal of sewing machines.

Dimensions are 16 x 20 centimeters. Weight is 6 kilograms. Cost is €2 500

Many of her perfumes and aromas coming from her vast sample library can be shocking and surprising. She once took the molecules of David Beckham’s Football boot and made a new cheese from it with the exact smell. The power of smell can be somewhat surprising!