TSU LANGE YOR: Troye Sivan Gives Belonging a Shape Through Scent

“I think home is the most personal place. That is precisely why I want to be particular about an interesting, creative process.”
— Troye Sivan

Basic Information
The Founders and the Origins of the Brand
What Defines the Brand
The Fragrance Lineup
An Additional Note…

Basic Information

TSU LANGE YOR is a perfume, home fragrance, and lifestyle brand established in Melbourne, Australia, in 2023. It was founded by brothers Troye Sivan, a pop singer who also works as an actor, and his older brother Steele Mellet. Its official website is tsu-lange-yor.au. The name “Tsu Lange Yor” comes from a Yiddish expression passed down among Eastern European Jewish communities.

The Founders and the Origins of the Brand

Family Memories Embodied in a Name

TSU LANGE YOR is a Yiddish toast meaning “to long and good years.” It is said to have been a phrase used at home throughout her life by Sivan’s great-grandmother, a Jewish woman who escaped the Holocaust by leaving Lithuania for Johannesburg, South Africa, and who spoke only Yiddish. Sivan himself was born in Johannesburg and moved with his family to Perth, Australia, as a young child. The brand name can therefore be understood not simply as a decorative choice of words but as an embodiment of family memories passed down through generations.

Discovering Scent, and Homesickness

Throughout his musical career, Sivan has made the intense nostalgia he has felt since childhood a theme of his work. In an interview with the fashion publication The Business of Fashion, he said the following.

“I suffer from very strong homesickness. I grew up in a very close-knit family, so traveling was difficult. That was when I first truly understood the power of scent.”
— Troye Sivan

Sivan, who grew up in Perth, has said that he took candles with him when traveling on tour and lit them in hotel rooms to ease his homesickness. This personal habit became the first seed of what would later grow into Tsu Lange Yor.

The Pandemic and the Response to Architectural Digest

One turning point was Sivan’s purchase of a home in Carlton, Melbourne, during the 2020 pandemic, followed in 2021 by a feature on his home in Architectural Digest’s “Open Door” series. The video drew a response that brought it close to ten million views. Reflecting on this in an interview with the magazine, Sivan said the following.

“I had lived in America for about five years and had been wanting to return to Australia, and then the pandemic brought me home. I missed touring and seeing people, but being forced to stop for a while was a good experience. In a house that tells the story of places I have loved, I wake up every day excited to make something new.”
— Troye Sivan

According to an interview in Singapore’s Esquire, Sivan said of this response, “I had always wanted to work in this area [home fragrance], but thought it would be a niche side passion I would pursue quietly when I was older,” adding, “This AD [Architectural Digest] video gave me the confidence to share my design voice.”

Turning Down Offers from Major Beauty Companies

When launching the brand, Sivan reportedly received offers from several major beauty companies for a so-called “celebrity perfume”: a product for which the company builds everything and simply puts a celebrity’s name on it at the end. Unable to identify with that approach, however, he chose to return to Australia and establish a completely independent brand with his brother.

“When I came up with the idea, a few companies approached me. Their approach was essentially to build the entire brand and just put my name on it at the end. I wondered what the point of that would be. So I went back to Australia and started Tsu Lange Yor with my brother, completely independently.”
— Troye Sivan

Older Brother Steele Mellet’s Decision

TSU LANGE YOR began as a partnership between brothers and was the first project on which Sivan and Mellet worked together professionally. Previously, Mellet had been an intellectual property, or IP, lawyer at a leading Australian law firm. In April 2022, he left that position and chose to devote himself to the brand as co-founder and managing director of TSU LANGE YOR.

In an interview with the major Australian beauty retailer Mecca, Sivan recalled his hesitation at the time.

“[Mellet] knew how much I wanted to do it, and I knew how much I wanted it. But I felt that if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it properly. I knew that would take a lot of time and effort, so, honestly, I was a little scared.”
— Troye Sivan

Mellet’s offer in response, “If you want to do it, I’ll do it with you,” is said to have given Sivan the decisive encouragement he needed.

The Official Melbourne Launch in August 2023

TSU LANGE YOR officially launched on August 18, 2023, through a pop-up event in the popular Melbourne neighborhood of Fitzroy. Its initial lineup was deliberately focused: three perfumes (eaux de parfum (in Japanese)), three candles, two home objects, and three burner blends. Mellet explained this first drop as follows.

“Our approach was always clear: focus on authenticity and quality, and make sure every product reflects our values. If we do that, eventually that identity will be able to stand on its own.”
— Steele Mellet

The first online release reportedly sold out on the day, while the pop-up attracted many fans eager to encounter the brand early. Just one month after launch, the brand secured a retail partnership with Dover Street Parfums Market in Paris. Major Australian beauty retailer Mecca and e-commerce site SSENSE subsequently began stocking it as well. In 2024, TSU LANGE YOR became the first Australian perfume brand carried by Mecca.

What Defines the Brand

The Two Pillars of “Self” and “Sanctuary”

The TSU LANGE YOR product range is broadly divided into two categories, “Self” and “Sanctuary,” meaning a sacred space or home. “Self” refers to personal fragrances, while “Sanctuary” encompasses candles, oil burners, and objects for the home. The brand’s words, “fragrances for self, objects for space,” encapsulate this structure.

A Commitment to Australian Creativity

Sivan has expressed a strong wariness of having the brand dismissed as a “celebrity brand.” In an interview with The Business of Fashion, he said the following.

“We never wanted to rely on, or overemphasize, the fact that this was ‘a brand made by a celebrity.’ What mattered just as much to us was that it was born in Carlton, Australia, and that it celebrated Australian botanicals, Australian ingredients, and Australian creatives.”
— Troye Sivan

In keeping with that approach, the signature TLY 5755 was composed by Sydney-based perfumer Craig Andrade, who also heads the Australian brand The Raconteur, while the home objects are the work of Sydney-based artist and industrial designer Joel Adler.

The Choice of Tasmanian Mountain Pepper

One of the materials that characterizes TLY 5755 is Tasmanian mountain pepper. It is an ingredient that conveys a sense of Australia and has been introduced as a “world first” use in perfume and home fragrance. Recalling the development process, in which he worked through Andrade’s library of ingredients one by one at his Sydney studio, Sivan said the following.

“It seems so funny now to think of the session when I assumed I didn’t like citrus because I didn’t like lemon. Now bergamot (in Japanese) is one of my favorite notes, and we use it in a lot of what we make.”
— Troye Sivan

Care in Materials and Manufacturing

All the brand’s perfumes have vegan formulas, are cruelty-free, meaning not tested on animals, and are manufactured in Australia. The home objects incorporate hand-cast recycled metal. The early oil burners used a recycled aluminum alloy, while the bowls use a recycled brass alloy. The differing weights and appearances of these materials are part of the objects’ appeal.

Collaboration at the Core

Both Mellet and Sivan identify “collaboration” as a core value of the brand. Sivan told Mecca the following.

“Collaboration is one of the central pillars of my life. It is one of life’s greatest joys, and one of our goals was for the brand to feel Australian. There are so many amazing creatives in this country, and we wanted to celebrate them and work with them.”
— Troye Sivan

The Fragrance Lineup

The “Self” collection features several unisex eaux de parfum, intended for all genders, centered on the signature TLY 5755. Looking at the personal fragrances alongside the scents for the home brings the brand’s world into fuller perspective.

TLY 5755: The signature scent takes its name from Sivan’s birth year in the Hebrew calendar. It is a spicy, deep fragrance that layers top notes of black pepper, sandalwood, and vetiver with middle notes of shiso, amyris, Cashmeran, and mountain pepper, and base notes of cedarwood, Buddha wood, vanilla, and coumarin. A distinctive feature is its guidance to wearers to re-examine the fragrance’s development at three stages: after two minutes, twenty minutes, and forty-five minutes.
Luca: Featuring bergamot, cedarwood, and moss, among other notes, it is described as a fragrance for a night out.
Pool: An aquatic fragrance evoking a summer day, layering fresh top notes such as cucumber, lychee, raspberry, and bergamot with tomato leaf and coriander.
Sassafras: With a woody, smoky profile, it is named for the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, the area where the brothers’ parents live. This is a fragrance for the home, offered as a candle and burner oil.
Sage’s Rose: A fragrance said to be inspired by Sivan’s sibling, Sage.
SALA: A green, nectar-like floral fragrance developed with emerging New York-based perfumer Joey Rosin to mark the birth of Mellet’s son, Sivan’s nephew Sala. Sivan has said that it “takes me back to memories of picking flowers.”
By Your Side: Described as having a smoky, enveloping scent profile.

The “Sanctuary” collection consists of aromatic candles in TLY 5755, Pool, and Sassafras, and oil burner blends for enjoying each of those scents. It also includes Adler’s oil burner, which began in recycled aluminum, and the much-discussed brass “Bowl,” a sculptural ring-shaped object without a base. More recently, the brand has expanded into textiles, including the merino wool “Throw” blanket, beanies, and sweaters.

An Additional Note…

Esquire described the 25 ml perfume bottle released in the brand’s early days as a design reminiscent of Sivan’s hit song “Rush.” The writer’s aside, “whether intentional or not,” reflects this playful reception. Another word worth remembering when getting to know the brothers’ brand is the Yiddish “naches.” It means the pride and joy one feels in another person’s achievements, a feeling that seems particularly apt when the two speak happily about the work of friends and family.

The brand’s story lives not only on its official website but also in interviews featuring the brothers. In Esquire they discuss the path to founding it, while in Mecca they describe their interactions with family and perfumers, conveying just how closely daily life and fragrance-making are connected. Rather than tracing awards, the question is what kind of homes they return to, and what they wanted to make, with whom. Reading their words brings the meaning of “belonging” as imagined by Tsu Lange Yor a little closer.

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