AURUM x Earl of East
"Scented Journeys: Unveiling the Essence of Earl of East London"
Nestled in the historical Quadrant Arcade of Regent Street, we had the privilege of interviewing Paul Firmin and Niko Dafkos at their freshly opened location to uncover the remarkable journey of Earl of East London. Founding their own brand in 2014, Paul and Niko embarked on their journey through a humble market stall in East London. Fueled by a passion for home fragrance and a shared ambition to craft something truly unique, their brand has since blossomed into a formidable presence, boasting three physical stores in London, an expansive online shop, and a thoughtfully curated range of sustainable home fragrance and bathing products, all painstakingly crafted by a devoted team right here in the capital.
Their trajectory is nothing short of a modern-day fable. Our conversation delved into the pivotal moments that have shaped the brand’s evolution, revealing the very essence of its brand identity. Travel for the duo is not just a source of inspiration, but a lodestar guiding its creative compass. Yet, beyond the olfactory allure, lies a steadfast commitment to community-centric values that form the bedrock of its ethos. Further, we explored the brand's dynamic partnerships and collaborative ventures, providing insight into the synergies that continue to sculpt its narrative. Join us as Niko and Paul invite us into the world of East of London, where every endeavour is a testament to a genuine passion for craftsmanship and connection.
November 24 2023 - By Lisja Tërshana
Lisja Tërshana (LT): Earl of East’s transformation from a humble market stall in East London to a recognised brand is inspiring. Could you recount the pivotal moments of this journey and share the inspirations that fuelled your initial motivation?
Paul Firmin (PF): Earl of East started at first as a creative outlet. It was just a hobby for Niko and me outside of work. The growth of the business to this point has been organic. Our very first customer was someone who's now become a friend, and when they came to the stall, they loved it and bought most of it. It was a pivotal moment as a reaffirmation that what we were creating was something people would be interested in and set the journey to turn that ‘one-off’ market stall into a series of markets. The most recent milestone is definitely the opening of this Regent Street location.
Niko Dafkos (ND): Another pivotal moment was the first studio space opening in Hackney because it allowed us to move the production of the candles from our home and bring team members, turning this from a hobby into a real, scalable business. With it becoming our full-time job, the ‘fight or flight’ mentality kicked in. It was no longer a side project, and we had no other income, so we had to make it work. The first stockist requests were always special, and to this day, we get excited when a new interest comes in; it’s an affirmation that what you're doing is of interest to other people. We’ve always said yes as much as possible for as long as it makes sense.
LT: The concept of blending shopping with workshops is both innovative and community-centric. How do you envision this approach altering the traditional retail landscape, and what ripple effects do you observe within the community you've cultivated?
PF: I believe that nowadays, we are in an omni-channel retail world where people want to shop online and in real life as seamlessly as possible. The role of physical retail has transformed beyond the transactional and is now experience-driven. Transparently, workshops generated income to help pay for our first store because the rent was high. I don't think when we started them, we predicted we would love them as much as we did. It was such a great way to introduce people to the brand, create a community around the brand, and keep them with us on this journey; the people who see how you make your products and hear your story from your mouth grow a closer connection and are more likely to talk about your brand like ambassadors. The audience is more likely to visit your store once they hear these stories, too. Our longest-standing and most regular customers might have done a workshop with us six or seven years ago; having them is exceptional and rare.
LT: As you expanded into the Asian markets, how have the region’s cultural nuances influenced Earl of East London? Could you tell us about the challenges you faced and achievements in this process?
ND: Growing in any new market will always have new nuances with our work. To us, it wasn't a strategy to expand there. People came to us and displayed an interest in the brand. The challenges are often barriers to entry. We have had some success in Hong Kong, but this year, we also got our Chinese trademark. For the Japanese market, we made a whole line inspired by their culture and celebrating it, which I think they appreciated. The idea of workshops is a constant that we always carry through, so we go to Japan once a year and do workshops there. That's helped to create that same member community that we have here in London.
PF: Although we produce locally, all our products are inspired by travels; there's always been a global mindset with a local approach to rebuilding a community. I think our Coal Drops Yard store was great for that because we were surprisingly reaching many more international customers travelling to town and trying out new experiences here in London.
LT: Travel seems intertwined with your brand’s DNA. How does it serve as a muse for crafting sensory experiences and emotional connections and cultivating a sanctuary??
PF: For us, it is more about creating products that are unique to us. The time of travel and memory are well connected as our central memories, so there's a synergy between the two worlds. We also live in one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Even without leaving the city, you still enjoy so much more culture, food, and sensory experiences than you would if you were in any other part of the UK or a smaller city anywhere worldwide.
LT: Your brand resonates with the principles of ‘Create, Curate, Collaborate, and Community.’ How do these pillars manifest in your daily operations and product designs?
ND: It's funny because the pillars are something we thought of way back in 2015 when we were at a creative camp run by a friend in the US. The exercise was to describe what we do in as few words as possible. The brand has consistently grown organically, from a hobby and a place of passion instead of a strategic goal, “What is the gap in the market?” Even though we hadn’t really communicated it, everything we delivered from the beginning was against those four pillars. We often collaborate with brands of different sizes, and having these pillars helps our team members instinctively ensure that we always deliver against all of them.
PF: Having a store that is more than just a candle shop but hosts multiple brands makes it easier for us because there is always an element of curation and provides opportunities to collaborate with other people. Create, Curate, Collaborate, and Community are well ingrained in everything we do without consciously going through them like a list.
LT: Let’s dive into your collaborative projects, especially with JW Anderson and Selfridges. How do you select potential collaborators, and how do these partnerships harmonise with Earl of East’s values? Were there any unforeseen challenges?
ND: Since our growth in terms of the brand presence, it’s not usually the case that the relationship starts from us reaching out. If anything, it's the other way around. Because we've always been manufacturing in London at a grassroots level, more prominent brands often come to us when considering doing a limited run of candles, like Selfridges’s Project Earth sustainability proposition as a retailer. We deliver against that because we're hand-poured, sustainably produced, and fully transparent.
PF: I think we are working on the custom projects about the brands. Having the opportunity to manufacture for a brand like JW Anderson and produce their candles was definitely prestigious. Some smaller custom projects of making 50 candles for a wedding might have been the ones we enjoyed the most. In terms of our workflow as a business, it's always nice to be able to break the consistent production of our own line with something new and fresh. It's truly great for the team and inspiring, opening us up to new ideas and concepts as well.
LT: Given the shift in consumer behaviour post-pandemic, where physical experiences seem less important, how do you navigate these challenges?
PF: In the pandemic, there was such a seismic shift to online retail because there was no option. However, I think our core customer is the person who really values experience, so if anything, shopping online reinforces the value of in-person interaction, and our spaces deliver against that. The future needs to be a seamless online and offline transaction. Customers may want to shop in-store because it is more tactile, but then have it shipped to them online. Equally, another customer wants to do all of their sourcing and finding online and be able to pick it up in-store because it's easier for them. We also get a lot of click-and-collect orders daily because we have made it easy to do and ship internationally to customers who wouldn’t be able to visit. London attracts many tourists, and many international customers come into one of our stores because they have been shopping online before. Yes, they are challenges, but you can either look at them as friction or as opportunities.
ND: The main challenge as a new brand starting is how to get a foothold online when there's so much competition, which comes down to the pillars we mentioned before. We try to make sure we don’t just buy everything from our partners just because those items sell; we really focus on a unique curation for a harmonious blend between us and the other brands in our space. Even if someone has never been into one of our stores, we want them to come in and think that everything makes sense together. We make sure we drive unique content across all our platforms beyond product levels to bring people to the brand, whether that's through content like recipes or playlists. That's the value of a small, emerging brand that much bigger companies (which pay to drive traffic to their website) struggle to compete with.
LT: In collaborating with Aurum, what specific elements or characteristics of Aurum did you feel particularly resonate with the Earl of East ethos? How did these shared values or synergies influence the partnership?
ND: When we create a product, travel is always an inspiration. But when it comes to the product itself, the main focus is how it will work for a consumer. For example, for our first foray into proper skincare, we first created oil-based products. We could have created many different oils (one for the face, bath, and body) and sold more, but instead, we made one that you could use for all those functions and is much more sustainable. Some customers don’t want to commit the money and time to a 12-step skincare routine, so it was just a one-stop shopping. We try to apply that to everything.
PF: A couple of years ago, colourful moulded candles became a huge trend, and as a manufacturer, it would have been easy to create them as well. It's not about rushing it and responding to trends but doing things that feel like you. Our product development has always been slow and steady. Stockists don’t buy every scent from our line, but if they buy four (which is the average), we want to make sure there are as many things for that customer within those four scents. Rather than creating new scents this year, we released the same scent in air fresheners and incense. This way we grow our wholesale business, develop our relationship with each customer, and give them the option to curate from our collection.
LT: In collaborating with Aurum, what specific elements or characteristics of Aurum did you feel particularly resonate with the Earl of East ethos? How did these shared values or synergies influence the partnership?
PF: This was a much more personal project than others. Edna started as a customer in our store, who became a regular, and who later became a friend. When we first started speaking about this project that she was about to embark on, the synergy was focused on our relationship rather than the benefits of collaboration. Edna’s approach to community is very aligned with ours, and when she started to speak about a project that would invite artists to create visuals and create flavours to pair with the scents, the mission felt aligned with our brand, and that’s why it felt like the right project for us.
LT: Looking back, could you share moments or stories that underscore your personal growth during Earl of East’s development? What fuels your drive to undertake such challenges, and does it relate to your beliefs and values of life?
ND: The question of personal growth is a challenging one. It probably comes back to the beginning of just learning, taking opportunities, and saying yes to everything. When we started Earl of East, we had no idea it would even turn into a business, but we shared a passion for doing something. Personal growth started with committing to a project outside of work and not spending our evenings and weekends on social activities. We had to put social lives on hold to do this alongside our day jobs, and when we switched to full-time, that sadly didn’t change. As the business grows, there's a whole set of challenges around managing time, other people, and your own mental health; they grow as the business grows. It’s an ever-evolving thing; we are learning and growing every day.
PF: You need to be convinced by your own ideas; people have so much self-doubt that they never start anything, or they'll only start if they believe it to be perfect. Something we learned really early on is that we'll always be our toughest critics for everything we do. Even opening this store, I focused on everything we hadn't done and how it could have been better instead of just being proud that we opened a location on Regent Street.
LT: As Aurum looks at the convergence of art and wellness, where do you see the future of this combination, especially concerning mental and emotional well-being?
ND: I believe art and wellness are always closely aligned. The mind requires a creative outlet, and for that reason, I see a natural connection between them. What's interesting now about this convergence is that people are using it to strike a balance in their lives. In the past, regardless of whether people were deemed to do something creative, they didn't focus as much on wellness. Now, many people pursue wellness, health, and creativity side by side or ensure they invest in these areas outside work, even if their jobs do not inherently support these attributes. I think there will always be a symbiotic relationship between the two — it’s an idea our business relies on, and we aim to cultivate this among our team members.
LT: In your pursuit of passion, how do you strike a balance between work and life? What is the mantra you want to communicate to your team and customers?
PF: It’s important to find a balance to integrate work and life. The pandemic helped people realise that work doesn't have to happen in the office. I'm not someone who enjoys working from home; I love being around other people and getting inspired in a space dedicated to our craft. A global challenge nowadays is that work is measured through a timeframe of how many hours are spent on it, but not the outcome achieved. What would the future of work look like if this was different? We want to inspire the people around us to have the confidence to explore our ideas and dreams but also be prepared that they might not look like how you thought they would. Just go for it!
LT: As we look forward, what visions do you have for Earl of East over the next decade? Should enthusiasts be on the lookout for specific ventures or expansions?
PF: Niko and I always say, if this was all to end tomorrow, we are proud of everything we've done. The next ten years are quite an interesting one because in one year we’ll have our first 10th anniversary. In itself, it’s a milestone because it has truthfully come with many sacrifices, and not many businesses can reach this point. In the last two years, Earl of East feels like it's become a business, not just an idea; many pieces are coming together.
ND: As partners in life and work, the next ten years will be about looking at the business and figuring out how to make it work for us as much as we work for it. Plenty of the things we want to achieve are around striking a balance; we are ambitious people and we are always looking at our brand’s growth, but it can't be at the expense of us anymore. We would love to open stores internationally, continue the development of our manufacturing, and expand our product line.
Editor - Lisja Tërshana
Lisja Tërshana (@tershana) is Art Editor of Aurum Arts. She is also an art curator, writer, and design strategist. As an MA Innovation Management candidate at Central Saint Martins, she is researching innovative philosophies and mediums to meaningfully transform the art ecosystem.
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