Creating a successful artisanal, small batch range of perfumed products and goods have reconnected sisters Sarah and Rose Agnew with their love of Wanaka after many years travelling.

“George & Edi launched in 2011 with a stall at the Queenstown Arts Market and remained for several years while we grew our wholesale business,” says Rose. “The market was invaluable to us, allowing us to meet our customers, including many Australians and receiving their feedback.”

“Initially the candles were wrapped in vintage book pages then we found some old Readers Digest gardening books with vintage flower drawings and wrapped with these our customers started requesting more floral pages please and the journey into our signature hand drawn floral packaging began.”

A shared love for creativity, craftsmanship and fragrance is at the forefront of the George & Edi range.

“We believe all the little details determine how good the product will be in the end and we are meticulous with research and development to ensure we are 100 per cent happy with every aspect of a product prior to launching.”

Two popular new products are the Triple Milled perfumed bar soap range along with Perfumed Candle refills.

“The cleansing and nourishing soaps complement our hand cream and crème perfume ranges enabling fragrances to be layered which is lovely,” says Rose. “Our perfumed candle refills mean customers can reuse their candle glasses, without returning glassware. You just clean out your current candle glass and pop the refill in. We are super proud of this product offering and it’s fabulous to see the demand growing.”

The George & Edi Artisanal range and gift boxes have a lot of appeal.

“Our Artisanal range is where we collaborate to make limited edition, beautiful things with other artists,” says Rose. “The current collaboration is with Wellington ceramicist Angela Francis using her gorgeous ceramic dishes for our tea lights, perfumed potpourri and candle vessels – each made in our signature colours.”

“We have wanted to make gift boxes for years, so it is exciting to finally launch two options, a home fragrance gift box and a body range gift box available from our online store and selected stockists.”

Rose says early support from Wanaka and Queenstown stores has been pivotal to the brand’s success.

“Wanaka lured us back to New Zealand to start the business and our Wanaka flagship shop Gifted Design Store along with Queenstown’s Angel Divine were early supporters. We are grateful for all the support locally and excited to have built our business from Wanaka and gain an international following which continues to expand.”