Following the debut of Tsu Lange Yor, a new homeware and fragrance brand, Troye Sivan opens up about his creative process, geeking out on interiors, and what makes his brand different to other celebrity ventures
Troye Sivan is no stranger to homesickness. Before the age at which many of us leave home, the Rush singer was travelling the world, forging his career in entertainment. Having previously worked from his bedroom in Perth, posting vlogs on YouTube, he was now spending long stints away from his home and hometown. During this period, however, Sivan found ways to make wherever he was staying – be it a hotel room, trailer or tour bus – feel more familiar. This is something he has channelled into his new homeware and fragrance brand, Tsu Lange Yor.
If you need any further proof that home is important to Sivan, then just watch Architectural Digest’s tour of his house in Melbourne, which you’ve likely already seen. Filled with design classics – Isamu Noguchi lamps, and pieces by Percival Lafer, Ettore Sottsass, Tobia Scarpa, among others – and works by artists local to Australia, his cosy, mid-century oasis was an internet sensation (it’s now one of the first search terms that come up when you type ‘Troye Sivan’ into Google.) So this move into homeware and fragrance feels like a natural progression in the musician’s career.
The name Tsu Lange Yor – pronounced tsoo-lang-yor – is a Yiddish saying which means “to long years”, and a nod to Sivan’s Jewish heritage. For the brand’s first collection, Sivan has created a luxurious series of fragrances and objects designed to elevate two of life’s most essential components: self and sanctuary.
This debut collection encompasses three highly personal scents, each unisex and ranging from the summery carefree notes of ‘Pool’ (which carries hints of suncream and raspberries) to the seductive scent of ‘Luca’, with comforting notes of bergamot and cedarwood. For the home, three fragrances pair with hand-cast oil burners, designed and created in collaboration with artist and industrial designer, Joel Adler – who rendered the design in VR and created a 3D-printed mould, before they were individually hand-cast in aluminium or bronze alloy to take their final tooth-shaped form. Rounding out the collection is an aluminium dreidel, a limited-edition art piece, also by Adler, which is another nod to Sivan’s Jewish heritage and is designed to help you unwind.
Of course, celebrity brands are nothing new – it seems everyone Hollywood-adjacent now has a lifestyle or beauty brand – but for Sivan, it was imperative that Tsu Lange Yor not be just another soulless range of products that he slapped his name to. That was very much an avenue that was open to him, but he waited it out and sought the right collaborators to ensure he built a brand with integrity.
To celebrate the launch, Tsu Lange Yor collaborated with many of the same friends and vendors that brought Troye’s Carlton home to life to create a similarly inviting pop-up sanctuary at the Melbourne gallery space, At the above. Prior to opening, we caught up with Troye to talk all things Tsu Lange Yor.
Congratulations on the launch. Compared to other celebrity brands, Tsu Lange Yor feels quite intimate, and genuine to you. Can you share what inspired you to create it?
Troye Sivan: Well, first and foremost, I think I would be doing this, regardless of any of my work in the entertainment industry. This is always something that has been a fantasy of mine since I was a kid, really, alongside the music and everything else. So the goal was to not rely on any of that side of it. Obviously, it’s nice to have an audience that is ready to hear about this thing that I’m so excited about. But ultimately, Tsu Lange Yor comes from my passion for home, interiors and beautiful things. That was the starting point of it all.
How did the creative process for this differ from music or acting?
Troye Sivan: That’s something that I’m so excited about, with working on this. I realised that the creative process is the thing that I’m addicted to. It’s collaboration really, it’s not that different. It feels the same as making an album or filming a TV show. It’s finding people who are more talented than I am and working with them and learning from them. Throughout any of my creative pursuits, the moment I get excited is when I feel surprised. Because I know all of my instincts. So through collaboration, you’re able to come up with something that you didn’t know you were capable of. That’s a really addictive feeling.
In building Tsu Lange Yor, what was the most interesting thing you learned during the process?
Troye Sivan: I think this has been the steepest learning curve of my life. Every time you go into a new medium, you have to learn a new language to be able to communicate with your collaborators. Scent is something that I think people innately understand – not everybody necessarily knows why they like something or not. And so for me having to learn why I like things or how to create something that I love, that was probably the biggest learning.
I love that you geek out over interiors and design. It’s really clear that this brand is very natural for you. Why did you enlist Joel as a collaborator?
Troye Sivan: I’ve actually known Joel for a really long time. I’ve always been a big fan. I saw one of his works in Perth a couple of years ago and always remembered it, so when it came time to start designing the objects side of the business he was the first person that came to mind.
We’re in your first Tsu Lange Yor pop-up right now. What was the story that you wanted to tell in this space?
Troye Sivan: Obviously, I wanted it to be beautiful. I wanted it to feel comfortable and not pretentious at all. I wanted to display our products in a really clean way where you could engage with them in a really intimate, personal way. And also to display them in the way that I do at home. So we’ve essentially built a living room space. I feel very lucky that I’ve lived with these products for the past 12 months or so and honestly, and I’m excited to kind of show people how I’ve been using them.
I walked out of the pop-up, spritzed in TSY 5755 – the brand’s signature scent which boasts notes of Tasmanian Mountain Pepper, Sandalwood and Vetiver. As instructed, I re-examine my pulse points at two, 20 and 45 minutes post application, observing the olfactory notes as they change on my skin over time. At first, the scent reminds me of vintage timber and then as the day goes on it melds into a rich velvety scent. I’m hooked.
Tsu Lange Yor is available online from Wednesday, 23rd August.