The High Fashion Perfumers with a Penchant for Vintage, Crystals, and Issey Miyake
Kindred Black's Jennifer Francis and Alice Wells tackle the Boxcutter Questionnaire -- sustainably.
Burnt out on the fashion industry, Alice Kindred Wells and Jennifer Black Francis felt like they were drowning in a sea of plastic packaging waste and harsh fabric chemicals. Kindred Black was born in 2015 from this impatience blended with an affection for the beautiful and unusual. Environmentally focused, the brand offers natural, plastic-free artisan skincare, cosmetics, and botanical perfumes paired with unexpected vanity, bedside, and home finds.
Alice and Jen traveled, researched, and mined for natural ingredients, low-waste packaging, and local manufacturing. They also “truffle-hunted” unexpected finds to pair with their beauty line, besotted with the idea of the vanity of yesteryear. Their search for ways to reduce their footprint and mine the eras of history —when beauty was procured from nature and not a lab— immediately caught my attention.
In 2018, they began partnering with farmers, herbalists, and perfumers to expand their in-house line of natural beauty, perfumes, and cosmetics in hand-blown glass vessels. The line is now a cult (and personal) favorite—both for its effective, unusual ingredients and collectible artisan hand-blown glass bottles. In 2023, they took another step toward sustainability by releasing recyclable aluminum refill bottles for many of their products.
Everything they do is informed by the mantra “love for our mother” – a planet-first mindset shared by the artisans they work with every day. Below, the Co-Founders tackle our Boxcutter shopping questionnaire.
My best fashion investment was a:
Alice: I found a pair of brand-new custom shark-skin Paul Bond cowboy boots on eBay. They were very pricey for second-hand, but they were in pristine condition and happened to be in my size. They are one of the last classic cowboy boot makers still in business. The boots are entirely made by hand in a studio in Nogales, Arizona. The stitching is multicolor and super intricate. They are a work of art.
Jen: A couple of years ago, to celebrate a milestone, I bought a vintage men's 18k gold Vacheron Constantin watch with a custom-made 18k chain link bracelet band (similar one here). During the pandemic, the price of gold went wild and the person I bought it from was about to dismantle it and send the gold to the scrapper. I’d never seen anything like it and couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I made up an occasion that called for a special gift. I’m not someone who likes excess or waste, but I rationalized that a watch is something you can wear forever.
A beauty product I am always reaching for is:
Alice: Our Aker Fassi Lip and Cheek—I keep my routine super simple. I use our Dew Face Oil and a touch of Aker Fassi on my cheeks. It’s all-natural, and the color comes from dried poppy flowers. It gives me just the right amount of flush, especially if I’ve been up all night with my baby and need a little life in my cheeks. I wear it on my lips when I want to kick it up a notch.
Jen: Our French Plum Oil is my daily face oil. It’s made from a hybrid variety of Syrian and French plums developed during the Crusades and from a family-owned farm in the Southwest of France. I’ve always loved French plum oil's natural cherry marzipan scent, but this one is the most fragrant and delicious I’ve ever experienced.
If I could, I would spend all my money buying:
Alice: Anyone who knows me knows I’m obsessed with tiny objects and seashells. I basically spend all my money buying them. I have shelves and shelves filled with useless treasures—lots of miniature antique sterling boxes, rare seashell specimens, teeny talismans, and animal figurines. The smaller they are, the more I like them. My next investment will be this vintage Ruzzetti & Gow sterling-coated Tibia Fusus shell unless someone beats me to it.
Jen: Well, the honest answer is real estate in the remote countryside, but that’s a dream for the future. A little less abstractly, I love collecting beautiful glass and pottery from all different eras. I’d love a piece from Sophie Lou Jacobsen's Giardino Segreto series.
Something I just bought for my home is:
Alice: I’ve been salivating over a Ted Muehling seaweed salt spoon and his Nymphenburg Porcelain Snail Salt Cellar for years. It’s very over the top, but I waited as long as I could to buy it, and now it makes me happy at the dinner table every night of the week.
Jen: I just bought two small oil paintings by the artist John Alexander Steele, a conservator of Andy Warhol’s. His widow is still alive in her 90s and continues cataloging her husband’s work. He’s not very well-known or anything, but I love them. They’re sitting together unframed in my living room. He painted around the edges of the canvas because he intended them to stay unframed.
Something I am always re-purchasing is:
Alice: The Jungmaven Hemp Bralette. I’ve always worn their tees, but I discovered their underwear last year, and now I have this bra in almost every color for every day of the week. It’s like your favorite tee shirt for your boobs. We’ve both been big fans of Jungmaven for years since we met the owner and carried their shirts way back in the early days of KB. Rob has been a champion of hemp use for decades and his classic tee shirts are the slouchiest, softest out there.
Jen: Alice’s answer made me think of my fall/winter uniform—the black turtleneck (try not to think Elizabeth Holmes). They’re easy, and I’m perpetually freezing, so they work. Any time I see them at thrift and secondhand stores, I buy them, even if they’re too big or the sleeves are too short. Next up will be the Jungmaven hemp turtleneck because I like its thick hemp fabric that doesn’t get stretched out and wonky while you wear it.
Something I just bought to wear this fall is:
Alice: I finally bought a black Issey Miyake Twist shirt because it’s such a classic, and I’ve been wearing it a lot this summer. I also pulled the trigger on the Daniel Frankel Noa dress in black for my brother’s wedding in Joshua Tree this October. The bridesmaids were directed to wear black satin, and I tried on dozens of dresses for months. This one feels so glamorous and good on, and I miraculously found it on sale!
Jen: For years, I worked in handbag design, and I’ve been obsessed with bags. Whenever I overspend on something in a way that makes me feel guilty, it’s always impulsively on a bag. For this fall, I bought the Toteme Belted Suede Tote in Espresso, and I’m already using it every day, even though it’s 1000 degrees. The bag is made of thick, heavy, dark brown suede. I just couldn’t wait for appropriate weather.
Something in my cart right now is:
Alice: The Jaime Haller Penny loafers. I’ve been waiting for the half sizes to come out; she released them last month. Jen’s been wearing a pair all year, and I’m always envious of how great they look with everything. We often buy the same things – she bought those, and I purchased the Martiniano Gloves, and now I want the JH, and she wants the Martiniano. We’re enablers…
Jen: I love them, and since I already wear the loafers daily, I’ve moved on to wanting the JH Beatnik Boot. I don’t think I can justify the expense right now, but every day, I start the day saying I will buy them and end the day saying I won’t. So, I guess I have to stay tuned and see which side wins.
My favorite place to shop in my home city is:
Alice: Desert Vintage. I’m from Tucson and have been going since they opened in the original space (it’s where I first discovered Martiniano). I rarely actually purchase anything, but I love going and seeing the curation. My favorite place is the gem and mineral show shops set up in motel rooms along the Tucson interstate every January / February. Dealers come from across the world to hock their wares – everything from bowls of diamonds and rubies to dinosaur fossils and tiny, weird trinkets to add to my curio shelves.
Jen: I grew up in New Jersey, and though the state gets a bad rep, there are tons of beautiful things about it; great shopping is not one of the virtues that springs to mind. The advantage is that I was close enough as a kid just to take the train into the city.
My favorite place to shop online is:
Alice: eBay. When I can’t sleep, I eBay. When I’m on the subway, eBay. Any time I have a few spare minutes, I’m on eBay. It’s my way of zoning out and relaxing. I have hundreds of saved searches and a very bad habit.
Jen: I have to agree with Alice. You can find anything on eBay and pick up the most interesting things, often at great prices. I’m on there the most, but I’d go to Moda Operandi if I needed something new. I love scrolling through and seeing what’s happening; it’s mostly window shopping, to be honest.
A brand I love supporting is:
Alice: ARE Studio. Cecilia has perfected the art of subtle design. Every tiny detail is considered and actually works. She also has a beautiful aesthetic and is super focused on her footprint. She just released her first piece of clothing – I can’t wait to see if she builds that out because I think she would be a fantastic clothing designer.
Jen: I have to shout out Jaime Haller here again (Alice must think I secretly have stock in the company or something because I’ve been boring her talking about it so much). I think she’s very real and approachable in her email marketing and brings the audience along with her during the highs and lows of running a business, which I can relate to.
Discovered a few new things in here and love. I also just bought the Toteme belt bag! I found a navy on eBay and I’m obsessed.