As consumers of branding in nearly every area of our lives, we typically define a brand by what we can see: color, shape and design details. When we design a room, that identity becomes three-dimensional, informed by light, sound and, of course, scent. As professional designers, we are tasked with capturing a client’s personal style and translating it through a multisensory experience.
At BBH, the essence of a home can be expressed through intentional home fragrance. The candle collection draws from the lives of co-founders Kyle Barrett and Dwayne Bergmann. Floral notes, from the subtle to the exotic, represent Kyle’s passion for florals and BBH’s real-touch floral offering, while the sun-drenched, tropical notes nod to Dwayne’s Southwest Florida roots. Their shared passion for the equestrian lifestyle appears in earthier compositions and warm wood notes. Together, the fragrances bring the influences that define BBH into each candle.
Home Fragrance: The Invisible Layer
As designers, we approach a room in layers, beginning with the architectural framework, then adding furnishings and accessories. Together, they compose the room’s flow, use scenarios, and energy. Fragrance is a powerful invisible element with the ability to affect a space immediately. Like lighting, it can enhance, highlight, express or detract.
With the same careful consideration that goes into their design projects and BBH products, Kyle and Dwayne worked with master perfumers to craft each candle fragrance. Every scent was intended to feel considered, distinctive and reflective of the stories they wanted to tell. It is a personal touch that you cannot see, but you can most definitely sense.
Individual Influences Behind the Scent
Fragrance is personal, both in what we prefer and in how we perceive it. So when Dwayne and Kyle began developing scents for the home that represented them and embodied the BBH brand, they referenced the familiar.
For Kyle, that meant flowers. His professional expertise and personal passion for botanicals became the centerpiece of several candle designs, with notes of peonies, jasmine, wildflowers and geraniums. Some are subtle; others carry a more exotic floral scent.
For Dwayne, the starting point was Southwest Florida. His references naturally gravitate toward crisp citrus, ripe fruit, sandalwood, driftwood, salty breezes and patchouli. The citrus brings freshness, while the deeper notes keep the fragrance grounded. The result is a fresh scent with depth.
Layered together, the blends represents the unified partnership behind BBH. These home scents share a point of view, while the individual notes remain defined.
Leather and Woods: The Essence of BBH
In addition to the fragrance notes that nod to their individual lives, Kyle and Dwayne wanted their shared passions to envelop their shared spaces. Their love of horses and all things equestrian played a significant role in the development of the candle collection.
From Gilded Paddock to Nobel Meadow, Oak Enclave and Fawn Ridge, the fragrances evoke warm woods, the tactile richness of equestrian life and the untamed beauty of the majestic creatures themselves. The aroma is woody and grounded, but there is warmth to it. It speaks to the rustic elegance of a lifestyle they both know well.
Kyle and Dwayne also each developed a signature scent that spoke directly to their own sensibilities, available as a candle, soap and lotion.
Scented Candles Made to Be Seen
A candle both carries scent and acts as a decorative accent, meant to sit within the larger composition of a room. For luxury candles, the vessel is an essential part of the design. It matters as much as the scent itself.
BBH’s signature double-walled glass vessels give the candle a weightless elegance and allow it to sit comfortably within a wide range of interiors. The form feels considered on a console, beside a bed or in a bath without asking the surrounding design to make room for it.
Each candle is crafted with a high fragrance concentration for exceptional scent throw. Because the formula is fragrance-rich, subtle variations in wax color, texture or surface appearance may occur. These natural characteristics do not affect the candle’s quality or performance, but rather they enhance it.
At BBH, we view everyday rituals as opportunities to elevate and inspire. Candles, bedding, botanicals and décor each draw from the personal and professional experiences of our founding designers. For Dwayne and Kyle, the candle collection, comprising several signature and seasonal scents as well as soaps and lotions, extends the BBH story beyond product and into the realm of storytelling.
