Meet the Maker: Hunter Candles
For our latest Meet the Maker, we’re heading to Sydney’s Inner West to meet Vianney Hunter, founder of Hunter Candles.
Hunter Candles began in a Newtown backyard and today operates from a light-filled industrial space on King Street. While the business has grown considerably since those early days, it has stayed closely tied to the neighbourhood where it began.
Newtown’s art, interiors, independent businesses and creative community have all influenced the brand Vianney has built — from the fragrances themselves to the simple, understated way they’re presented.
Hunter Candles at Country Culture
When choosing products for Country Culture, we want to know who made them, where they came from and the story behind the business.
Hunter Candles gives us plenty to talk about. There’s Vianney’s childhood home filled with enormous candles and plants, the early days of pouring candles in a Newtown backyard, and the King Street studio where the brand continues to create its fragrances today.
We love being able to include those stories in the gifts we send.
Whether a Hunter Candle is chosen for a housewarming, thank you, birthday, settlement gift or simply something for someone to enjoy at home, it’s not just another candle added to a hamper. It’s a product made by an independent Australian business, by hand in Sydney, with a story that stretches from Vianney’s childhood home to the streets of Newtown.
We’re very happy to welcome Vianney Hunter and Hunter Candles to the Country Culture collection.
From a Newtown backyard to King Street
Vianney started Hunter Candles in Newtown, initially making candles from her backyard. Over time, what began as a small creative project developed into an established Sydney candle brand with a loyal following.
Today, Hunter Candles are still made in the Inner West, now from the brand’s industrial space on King Street.
The location is more than just where the candles are made. The personality of Newtown and the wider Inner West has been part of Hunter Candles from the beginning. Its art-filled streets, mix of old and new, independent businesses and strong creative community have helped shape Vianney’s approach to the brand.
That influence can be seen particularly in the fragrances. Rather than following traditional fragrance combinations, Vianney draws inspiration from memories, places, people and moments in time. Each blend begins with an idea or feeling and is developed into a scent that is intended to feel distinctive while still somehow familiar.
Where Vianney’s love of candles began
Vianney’s interest in candles, interiors and atmosphere can be traced much further back than Hunter Candles.
She grew up in a creative home where large candles were a constant feature, often styled by her mum amongst plants, branches and other objects. Looking back, Vianney can now see just how much those rooms influenced what she eventually created.
“I remember our house always being full of enormous candles. They were everywhere. Mum used to style them in and amongst a million plants and branches. When I look back at that now, I feel like Hunter Candles are a snapshot of those rooms.”
It gives an interesting insight into Hunter Candles today. Vianney’s interest in the way scent works alongside interiors wasn’t something that started when she launched the business; it had been around her from an early age.
Her background in art and interiors also influenced the way she thinks about fragrance. Just as lighting, furniture, colour and objects can change the feeling of a room, Vianney sees scent as another part of creating that atmosphere.
It’s why Hunter Candles has always focused on more than simply making a room smell nice. The fragrances are designed around how a scent can change a space or trigger a memory — whether that means making a room feel fresh and energised, creating a calmer atmosphere or reminding you of somewhere or someone.
Creating the Hunter Candles fragrances
Memory continues to play a large role in Vianney’s creative process.
Hunter Candles describes each blend as being born from “a moment in time, a memory, a muse” — an approach that helps explain why the collection doesn't necessarily follow conventional fragrance formulas.
The aim is to create scents that are a little unexpected but still familiar enough that you want to keep coming back to them.
It also gives the collection its distinctly Hunter Candles personality. There’s an understated coolness to the brand that feels very much at home in Newtown: considered without feeling too polished, and creative without trying too hard.
Made by hand in Sydney
While Hunter Candles has grown from its backyard beginnings, production has remained hands-on.
The candles are hand-poured in Sydney using soy wax and cotton wicks. Vianney and the Hunter Candles team also take a considered approach to the materials used across the business, including biodegradable soy wax, reusable glass vessels and recycled packaging materials wherever possible.
That combination of local production, thoughtful materials and a founder who remains closely involved in the creative direction of the brand is a big part of what drew us to Hunter Candles.
Candlelit Indulgence Gift Hamper
$136.00
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The Home Comforts Gift Hamper
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