“Sustainable luxury” seems to be a bit of a buzz-phrase these days. Only this morning I spotted this piece in Green Futures on ‘Why luxury should lead sustainability’, and my Futerra Co-Founder Ms Solitaire Townsend wrote a punchy provocation imploring Gucci to ‘Sell Sustainability’ on Guardian Sustainable Business last year. This has all built on the excellent work of folk like our good friend Professor Jem Bendell and others in their report for WWF on ‘Deeper Luxury’, and it seems that the voices are becoming more persistent and persuasive…

Even I, a man not exactly renowned for his propensity towards designer labels and luxury goods, have been given platforms from which to pontificate such as this one, through connections with sustainable luxury pioneers such as the very smart Florian Gonzalez. As the Founder of modern day luxury ‘maison’ Jardins Florian, I have been particularly impressed by Florian’s meticulous attention to sustainability detail. He literally leaves no stone unturned in the pursuit of an almost completely uncompromised vision of products that are lovingly fashioned by highly-skilled artisans from the very finest ingredients. This is sustainability as craft, or even almost art.

Kind enough to give Futerra one of his candles as a gift, I was somewhat blown away by its genuinely holistic beauty. If  William Morris’s timeless adage of what constitutes good design is ‘fit for purpose, functionally practical and beautiful to look at, aesthetically pleasing’, then great design adds a third component – ‘sustainably sourced, manufactured and reusable or recyclable’. Florian’s candles do all of this. Brilliantly.

From the Italian-designed hand-blown glassware, that is in itself heat-resistant (you can hold the candle safely and place it on any surface even when lit), through to the rigorous sourcing of organic, fair trade essential oils and the creative combination of scents, married to the wax itself – a hand blended and poured mix of organic soya and beeswax, every single sustainability aspect has been considered. Florian is clearly a dedicated perfectionist and whilst nothing’s 100% perfect, this product comes pretty close.

Of course, this all comes at a price and at £55 a pop no one is ever going to be buying these by the dozen. But that’s missing the point. The target market for this candle is high end aspirational and it serves that demand elegantly. Arguably with a 40+ hour burn time the enjoyment of this candle and all it’s sensuous aromas is about £1.35 an hour – barely more than the Grauniad’s daily cover price, and definitely a lot sexier. In that context the pleasure this candle will undoubtedly bring seems a lot more reasonable…

…but the best bit? The glass is eminently reusable as a very handsome whisky glass when the wax is burnt off – now you’re talking! Here’s to a deliciously deeper and desirable sustainable luxury. By candle-light.