A heady mix of leather, frankincense smoke and animalic labdanum is filling the Sydney air in time for Saturday’s Mardi Gras parade. Sniff, but don’t call it queer. It’s just Troye Sivan, who wants everyone to inhale regardless of their sexuality.
The Grammy-winning 29-year-old pop star is spritzing Mecca’s Sydney flagship store with his new fragrance By Your Side, which has been designed for lovers, whether they fly the rainbow flag or not.
Singer Troye Sivan with the new fragrance from his lifestyle brand Tsu Lange Yor at Mecca’s Sydney flagship store.Credit: Janie Barrett
“None of our fragrances are gendered in any way,” says Sivan, who has already released four scents with his brother Steele Mellet, with whom he co-founded lifestyle brand Tsu Lange Yor in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton 18 months ago. “If it speaks to you, it speaks to you.”
“The queer aesthetic is just an open aesthetic. It’s an open-mindedness to whatever feels right and feels good.”
The broad marketing of Tsu Lange Yor’s fragrances, candles and sculptural objects, which include an $1800 dreidel, is about sharing the love, not Sivan dodging responsibilities as a queer role model.
“I love to share. I think it’s like one of my love languages. I love giving shit away. It’s like, what’s the point otherwise?”
Since the Australian’s star rose on YouTube, then with acting roles in the movie Boy Erased and the divisive TV series The Idol, and in the music charts with the hits Bloom and My My My, more than 42 million people have watched him gyrate in a jockstrap and kiss a man in a crowded bathroom in the music video for Rush. Another 40 million viewers have seen his drag persona dance in One of Your Girls.
The queerest thing about the new fragrance By Your Side is its founder, not the top notes of pink pepper.
“It’s similar to music,” Sivan says. “When I start making an album, I’m not worried about cohesion because it’s all coming from me. So, if that’s the through line, then that’s the through line.”
The focus on authenticity is working. In August, Tsu Lange Yor – which means “to long years” in Yiddish, reflecting Sivan’s Jewish heritage – became the first Australian fragrance brand to be stocked by beauty giant Mecca.
Despite Sivan being unwilling to pigeonhole By Your Side as the smell of Mardi Gras, there’s a good chance you’ll smell it on the dance floor at the after-party.
Sivan’s management denied rumours that the singer would perform alongside his frequent songwriting collaborator Leland, who is performing a DJ set, but he will attend the event.
“I’ve done six or seven,” Sivan says. “I love them. I use [Mardi Gras] as an excuse to show Australia to my friends from America.”
You’ll also smell it near another gay icon rumoured to be performing at the Mardi Gras party.
“Oh, I’ll definitely be at the Kylie Minogue concert,” Sivan says.
Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.