Named for a daughter,
made for the coast.
Von Claire is a little father-and-daughter business in Encinitas, California — one part Von, one part Claire, and named for the two of us together. It started with candles. It won't end there.
A candle we couldn't throw away.
It began, honestly, with a bit of stubbornness. Von couldn't bring himself to toss out a beautiful glass just because the candle inside had burned down. So one afternoon he tried to save one — melt it clean, set a fresh wick, pour it new.
It turned out to be far easier than he'd imagined. A few wicks and a weekend later there was a little row of candles cooling on the kitchen counter, and an idea quietly taking shape alongside them.
Von and Claire, together.
The name is simply the two of us — a father's name folded into his daughter's. Von and Claire. It had lived on a someday list for a long while, and one day it finally came free. It felt right the moment we said it out loud.
Around the same time, we'd been talking about the kids starting something of their own. This became Claire's — hers to run, hers to shape, hers to grow into.
Starting with candles.
We started with candles because they were the thing right in front of us — poured by hand, made in small batches, and given a second life from glass that would otherwise be thrown away.
But Von Claire was never really meant to be only a candle store. Where it goes from here — new scents, maybe clothing someday, whatever Claire dreams up next — is a story still being written.
“A little light for you — re · poured with love.”