Assouline’s Candle Collection Is Armchair Travel at Its Finest

In the cultural dead zone that is London's Piccadilly Circus, there is one respite to be found: Maison Assouline. The West End outpost has been a treasured spot to the bibliophile since opening almost a decade ago, and now offers a coffee table tome on pretty-much any subject, from the archive of Christian Dior to rare Rolex watches.

But there’s one Assouline franchise that has achieved particular popularity. The Travel Series is a collection of rainbow-hued hardbacks that are as ubiquitous as they are conspicuous: if you don’t own one, you will have at least seen one (get a magnifying glass out and take a closer look at that polished period property you’ve bookmarked on Zoopla. It'll be there). Like Aesop soap and too many house plants, these rainbow offerings have become a millennial style signifier.

Now, the brand is doubling down on its efforts to help accessorise every mid-century modern living room with a range of candles that correspond to those famous hardbacks.

There’s clearly weighty thought behind the launch. The brand worked with renowned perfumer Jérôme Epinette – the man behind Byredo’s blockbuster Bal D’Afrique – and each scent is genuinely unusual, which is no easy feat in the hyper-saturated home fragrance arena.

The heat of Marrakech is represented by steely juniper berry and heady, sweet neroli, while Ibiza is juicy apples and patchouli. In Gstaad, you’ll find the bracing pine aroma of cypress over smoky, foresty woods, while the moon (the collection’s rogue entry) is a strangely cold-smelling blend of black pepper and cashmere.

Assouline Marrakech Flair

£75 at Farfetch

Assouline Moon Paradise

£75 at Farfetch

Assouline Ibiza Bohemia

£75 at Farfetch

Assouline Mykonos Muse

£75 at Farfetch

Obviously, there’s hefty gifting appeal here, but we’d recommend a little selfishness too, whether you’ve read the book – or actually visited the location – or not.