AĒSOP X STUDIO HENRY WILSON

Studio Henry Wilson’s collaboration with Aēsop on its first foray into product design was realised as a carefully considered brass oil burner.

For their first foray into product design, Aēsop has engaged Studio Henry Wilson – and not for first time.

It’s been more than three decades since Aesop was launched in Australia. Renowned for its distinctive store interiors and moreish skin, hair and bodycare products, the company has left it a good 30 years before it stepped into the realm of product design. The conversation came about following continuing requests – from its global customer base – for recommendations on what to use to diffuse the brand’s oil blends. Without something existing on the market that aligned exactly with Aēsop’s values, it seemed only natural that they create that missing piece. In lieu of such expertise in house, the design of a product was something they recognised as a venture they’d need to collaborate on.

Four years ago, when this conversation had just begun, Australian industrial designer Henry Wilson had recently worked on the design of Aēsop’s store in Balmain, Sydney.

“We were keen to work with an Australian designer close to us, so we could work collaboratively on the process,” says Dr Kate Forbes, general manager, product and research and development at Aēsop. “Henry has previous experience in designing the sort of objects that we were after, so it seemed like the right connection. We really respect his approach to design after working with him on the store and knew that we had a way of working collaboratively together so it seemed the obvious choice.”

Henry Wilson was quickly brought on board. “Obviously they have a passion for design,” he says. “We see it in their stores and everything they do.”

The brass oil burner of today, as you might expect, looks very different to the initial prototypes. In fact, it’s a different object completely. “We always knew we wanted a way to disperse scent, but very early on it was actually something a little bit different,” says Kate. Discussions and designs began around the idea of an olive candle infused with the scent and dispersed into the space. Turns out, that isn’t the most effective way to disperse scent. Anything but dissuaded by a roadblock, Henry and the Aēsop team went back to the drawing board. “Which is the great thing about design: you’ve always got to be open to totally throwing everything out and starting again,” says Henry. That’s when the idea of an oil burner started to take form. Asymmetry was a driving force in the updated design brief, giving it a sculptural, objet d’art-like visual appeal. But every design decision was informed as much by aesthetics as by functionality.

“On first glance, it has an artistic naiveté to it. But there are actually reasons for all those choices. The way the lid had to fit; the certain depth of the reservoir on top; where it’s placed; the size of the vent hole; and even size of the vessel is important. You’ve got to heat the air inside for the whole thing to get warm to be able to disperse scent. You have to find that optimal temperature of keeping the oil warm. So lots of little things had to fall into place,” says Henry.

It’s materiality – brass – was quickly and unanimously decided upon. Brass “made sense” for a number of reasons. Not least for the fact that it is a great conductor of heat. Aēsop has also used brass in many of its stores globally, suggesting a genuine affinity to the material.

Henry Wilson speaks with an appreciation of Aēsop’s willingness to let the design process unfold naturally, and Dr Kate Forbes, on behalf of Aēsop, likewise speaks highly of Henry. Collaboration, particularly in the design industry, isn’t always an easy process but in this instance it’s hard to imagine it was anything but absolutely enjoyable.

“On first glance, it has a sort of artistic naiveté to it. But there are actually reasons for all those choices.”