It was a partnership that was bound to eventually happen. When Rick Owens showed his Fall 2022 collection during Paris Fashion Week last month, the room was reportedly filled with the scent of a candle collaboration between Owens and Aesop. Owens has been a famed collaborator over the past few years, creating viral collections with brands like Converse, Birkenstock, and Champion. Through it all, an Aesop collaboration with fashion's king of darkness has felt too good to be true.

Today, the collaboration has dropped, offering an architectural candle, aptly titled Stoic, which will also be offered in the form of an Eau De Toilette, alongside a Travel Kit and its carefully curated contents, including Owens’s favoured formulations: Coriander Seed Body Cleanser, Resolute Hydrating Body Balm, Classic Shampoo and Classic Conditioner.

Black Pepper and Coriander Seed form the top notes, while Frankincense and woody notes give it a classic Aesop feel. A binding note of Patchouli completes this unapologetically piquant blend. The fragrance is accompanied by a string of 10 porous ceramic beads to which Stoic can be applied for increased longevity compared to direct application to the skin. The concept feels classically Owens, and one that the designer proposed to Aesop while developing the fragrance. Whether worn as a bracelet, laid on a bedside table or placed in a travel bag, the object holds a ritualistic appeal, making the relationship between the fragrance and its wearer all the more intimate.

"I am not sure if it was my body responding positively to the alchemy of the unguents they produce or my head responding to the quiet and gentle aesthetics of their ethos as a company, but Aesop’s balms represented a soothing mood that I wanted to continue seamlessly throughout my home life and my travel life," Owens said of the collaboration in a press release.

The limited-edition collection will be available at Aesop's website and select Aesop and Rick Owens stores across the world from 21 March 2022.