STORY BY MAHMOOD FAZAL, PHOTOS BY CHRIS TURNER

“There are no women who do not like perfume,” asserts Marilyn Monroe, before adding “There are women who have not found their scent.”

For Seddon based candlemaker Adrian Kennedy scents are the dreamy fabric that unite memory, mood and imagination. 

“I was trying to find something to scent my house,” says Adrian. “Something other than floral or really sweet smells and there wasn’t much on the market then.” Adrian began experimenting with oils, “I like my candles to have a woody base or a heavy base,” he says. “We started doing different things to gardenia and all those florals.”

When his friends demanded the opulent scents, Adrian started making them. “Everyone kept asking; ‘what's that smell? And can I have one?” Adrian decided to build the brand and Kennedy Smith candles was born. 

Adrian admits there was a lot of trial and error. “There's a ratio, there's temperature control, there's size of the wicks depending on how big it will burn and how fast the burn.” 

For Kennedy Smith, Adrian handcrafts the vegan-friendly soy candles in his kitchen laboratory, where he whisks together herbaceous oils with masculine undertones. Kennedy Smith is now stocked by the Melbourne Museum and Crown Casino, among others. 

“I’m actually a flight attendant,” he chuckles. “It gave me a chance to find things that nobody has here in Australia. In Dubai, I was smelling all these amazing leathers and woods.” As Adrian mazed through the bustling souks of Dubai, his imagination fluttered with possibility. “I was able to bring those memories back and now I have a brand-new candle called Rose Santal which is influenced by the souks in Dubai.”

A memory of a fragrance often lasts longer than the glimpses of the experiences we see. “You walk down the souks and people would be burning scents.” The undercurrent of Adrian’s work with candles is about building the foundations and fantasies that lend to everlasting memory. 

“My favourite, and the one that still is probably one of our biggest sellers is leather and tobacco.” Adrian’s tone shifts, “We also made one called tomato.” There’s a pause, as he wonders what I might think. “I like to challenge people on their palate and their sense of smell. So, tomato. It’s when you brush the leaf of a tomato tree when you water the garden, I just fell in love with that fresh herbaceous smell.”

Last year, Adrian began working with experiential design in a new way; he rejuvenated a federation home from 1912 called St Etienne. “That was a challenge because you're not designing for yourself, you're trying to appeal to the tastes of other people.” 

He wanted to offer people another mode of escapism. “People don't go to the country to sit in a house, they go to the country to have a feeling.” With lush gardens and delicately balanced interiors, St Etienne offers, in the same way a scented candle does, the space to lose yourself.

Kennedy Smith Candles

@kennedysmithcandles