Commune, an Intoxicating Wellness Brand Rooted in Respect for Nature

Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux met at a fashion party in London during the late 2000s. It was a scorching summer’s evening and there was not a drop of water to drink at the event, only champagne. “A dangerous recipe in the heat,” Paringaux remembers. “Needless to say, everyone was pretty tipsy.” Neal was working at LVMH at the time, while and Paringaux was working as Dazed’s art director, serving under Nicola Formichetti during one of the magazine’s wildest eras; the office was a converted garage in pre-gentrification Old Street and it’s there that editors would work, party and hardly ever sleep.

The husband and wife duo are telling me this story over a candlelit dinner at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, where they got married in the early 2010s. Much has changed since they first met. Swapping hectic careers in fashion for the bucolic bliss of the West Country – Paringaux went on to work with Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Hermès before becoming brand image director at Gucci – the pair are now partners in work as well as life. Together they head up sustainable personal care brand Commune, which takes its cues from English folklore and the rolling landscapes of Somerset.

So far, the story of Commune has been slow and steady. Launched softly in 2022 without fanfare or a litany of global stockists, its current offering is intentionally streamlined – just one beautiful scent, Seymour, in an array of body, bath and hair products, as well as two separate candle families that play on dusk and dawn. The pair spent a year perfecting Seymour, wanting to capture the feeling of “waking up on a spring day and heading outside.” They landed on a natural blend of bright grapefruit and geranium cut through with smoky cypress, Japanese hiba wood and galbanum – a resin from Iran used in biblical times to make incense. In due course, the plan is to add scents which represent the other three seasons.

Seymour is a love letter to Bratton Seymour, a tiny Somerset hamlet where the idea for Commune first started. The couple moved there from Vancouver – where Paringaux has been heading up creative for Lululemon – as the first lockdown came in 2020. A sequestered idyll where they grew incredibly close to their neighbours, sharing food, going for walks, and constantly checking in on each other, the move completely altered how the couple saw life could be lived. 

“Our direct neighbour was a historical fiction writer,” remembers Neal. “We would just go on long walks with her dogs and sometimes the kids. The next house down was the food critic at The Times, Lucas Hollweg. He and his wife used to do this menu that they published every week. I also met a woman called Angie Brooker, who’s an amazing perfumer. We worked together to create the Seymour scent. We just felt such an incredible friendship during that time. It was like a little commune.”

Built upon the pillars of togetherness and respect for nature, every aspect of Commune has been carefully considered by the couple – from their natural, cruelty-free and non-synthetic formulas to their packaging, which they worked on with local manufacturers in the UK to be completely recyclable. “We prefer the word responsibility rather than sustainability,” says Paringaux. “It’s about empowering you to be a responsible consumer. We’ve kept everything really straightforward. Our bottle is just aluminium, the same as a coke can. A lot of brands will add elements of plastic to their packaging, but for us, it’s just cardboard or paper. We always have this little message, ‘We’ve done our best to make this product as sustainable as possible, please do your part.’ We’ve done everything we can from a design perspective.”

Opened in 2023, the same care has gone into creating Commune’s store in Bruton, which is nestled on the high street of the market town turned-arts-haven opposite Phoebe Philo’s mother’s antiques business. Set behind arched glass windows, swooning ambient sounds and a mossy cubic terrarium in the centre of the room set a vibe of tranquillity amid neat shelves of products. But it’s the smell that’s really amazing – a heady botanical aroma from hundreds of rare oils Neal tinkers with each morning at her perfume organ. Inspired by the perfume organ of her mentor, the legendary Mandy Aftel – who she trained under when the couple were living in Canada – the amazing curved walnut structure was made by a local craftsman to echo the brand’s gothic lettering. “It was a real labour of love,” says Neal.

Sharing the knowledge passed down by Aftel while expanding their community, Neal and Paringaux are starting perfumery workshops in the space from March. They are also heading to Paris over fashion week to host a showroom, and later this year they have plans to launch their next collection, Montague. Inspired by the ripe fullness of nature in peak summer, the scent is named after the small village of Shepton Montague that neighbours Bratton Seymour. Taking each step intentionally, the couple says the most rewarding thing is connecting with others along the way.

“There’s a really great book by Simon Sinek, and it’s about finding your ‘why’,” says Paringaux. “What is your why? Why are we doing Commune? It’s really about bringing like-minded people together who share common interests, values and beliefs.” Neal nods in agreement. “For me, the most rewarding thing is when people take the time to come into the shop or to write and say, ‘We bought your product, we really love it.’ That always feels so nice. It makes all the effort worth it. I just hope our commune carries on growing.”

Find out more about Commune here.