Aeir: the backstory
Aeir co-founders Enrico Pietra and Rodrigo Caula met finding out at École Cantonale d’Artwork de Lausanne (ECAL), the hard-to-get-into ‘college of luxurious’ in Switzerland. Whereas there, they labored immediately with masters in numerous maisons gaining perception into generations-old crafts, or ‘codes of luxurious’, says Caula, from the saddle makers at Hermès to the champagne producers at Ruinart, and Murano glass specialists in Italy.
After graduating, Canada-born Caula joined Tesla working its Sustainability & Biomaterials Technique and later joined Yeezy as director of Innovation & Sustainability. Italy-born Pietra stayed on in Lausanne, becoming a member of the College college and collaborating with manufacturers together with Chopard and Hermès.
Aeir co-founders Rodrigo Caula and Enrico Pietra. They work from their studio in Venice Seashore, with a community of ‘20-30 collaborators between the West Coast and Europe,’ they are saying. Picture credit score: courtesy of Aeir
When the pandemic hit in 2020 Pietra and Caula have been, like many individuals, pressured to take some introspective outing. We thought, ‘What can we need to spend the remainder of our lives doing?’ says Caula. They started growing their very own first product, Aeir. ‘It was by no means solely about perfume, it was about discovering one thing that made us really feel good,’ he says.
Zero extraction perfume: what and why
For the pair, feeling good meant making a gender-inclusive perfume with the bottom carbon footprint potential. To do it, they used ethanol that sequesters CO2 (a brand-new revolutionary course of) and developed absolutely recyclable packaging for starters.
Not like conventional fragrances, which depend on naturally occurring components to provide a scent, Aeir is fully lab-made, thus ‘defending the surroundings from high-intensity agriculture and extraction processing’, they are saying.
‘I believe the perfect analogy could be Palo Santo. To get Palo Santo, you’ve obtained to cut down and extract wooden from a completely matured tree that’s maybe 70 years previous,’ explains Pietra. ‘Solely at this age is the tree mature sufficient to provide the oils that give it its scent profile. We wished to see if by utilizing biology and biotechnology we may obtain the identical scent profile with out having to truly reduce down a tree.’
Olfactory recollections for the longer term
They employed a biochemist with entry to a library of notes to supervise the formulations to which ethanol is blended (slightly than heavy water as in ‘Eau de’ parfums, as that is heavy to ship). Their transient to the perfumer? ‘Think about touchdown on Mars and being one in every of 120 folks chosen to construct a brand new civilisation,’ says Caula. ‘Your first reminiscence could be of residence.’
The fragrances and a refillable aluminium case. Picture credit score: courtesy of Aeir
The thought occurred to him whereas he was sitting within the captain’s seat of a stationary SpaceX spaceship whereas working at Tesla. ‘An ocean, the desert, the breeze, your recent sheets.’ These very private, deep-rooted recollections impressed the 4 scents of Moist Stone (a mineral scent, smokey talc and violet); Grand Rose (floral with cotton and pink pepper); Suede (leather-based, bergamot, and velvet plum) and Virgin Olive (oak, terracotta and candy hashish).
Consciously packaged
Avoiding any inks, dyes and adhesive, the all-white packaging (developed in Italy, produced within the US) is embossed with data. Utilizing solely the pure, undiluted scent means the containers could be saved smaller and transport prices low. The refillable aluminum case is (in its small Aeir Mini and bigger however nonetheless travel-friendly measurement) anodised for longer-lasting use.
The aluminium case. Picture credit score: courtesy of Aeir
The ‘extra silver than silver’ coating is achieved by way of a course of – initially developed by Nasa to guard elements in outer house – generally known as PVD, or picture vapour deposition, of taking pictures metallic right into a vacuum that then molecularly bonds to the floor. Not solely does it create an ultra-sleek aesthetic, however this zero-waste course of additionally eliminates the danger of microplastics.
NFC or close to subject communication know-how, embedded in lovely heavyweight paper, triggers a tab on my cellphone to pop up, which can navigate customers to Aeir.com, the place they’ll ‘unlock’ product, obtain Aeir Mail or replace their annual subscription or singular buy in Aeir Pockets. ‘It’s actually designed for the brand new kind of shopper,’ says Pietra.
Aeir of the longer term
‘Sooner or later, we hope to create an eco-system of merchandise that also share the identical ethos, transferring in the direction of zero extraction in as many classes as potential, recycled supplies, bio-engineered supplies, bio-fabricated supplies, even clothes, to have the ability to engineer fibres,’ shares Caula.
Pietra provides, ‘For us, it’s essential to consider inspiring a contented future, for issues to be constructive. There is no such thing as a dystopian future. We’ve the accountability as designers to guard and to design. To design is to resolve issues, to not create extra issues.’ §
Supply: Wallpaper
