1986 was founded by Zahra Ayub in Los Angeles.

I started the brand from a personal place. I have always loved candles and the feeling they create in a home, but I was very sensitive to many of them and never liked throwing the expensive ones away once they were finished. It felt wasteful. I wanted to create something you could keep. A clean-burning candle that becomes part of your home, something closer to art than something disposable.

At the time, there was nothing like this in the market. I created the first refillable multi-purpose candle made in marble and onyx with an ashtray lid that we bring over to LA from Karachi, Pakistan where each piece is hand-carved and boxed. We keep the original box as part of a more considered approach to reducing waste. Once it arrives in LA, we use a non-toxic natural coconut wax and an essential oil blend for fragrance, making it one of the cleanest burning candles in the market.

My interest in homes, atmosphere, and Feng Shui naturally shaped the direction. Light, scent, and material all play a role in that. I formulated the scents through scent-memory techniques, and we have five signature fragrances named after places that are meaningful to me. Glass candles and diffusers followed as customers asked for ways to experience the scents in different forms.

1986 is built on the idea of creating pieces that feel timeless and reliable, from scent to homeware to specialty teas. In a world of constant drops and choice overload, I wanted to make something slow and steady, something you return to. It is about how you feel when you're home and creating an environment that feels good.