Lauren Akins and Ranger Station Collaborate on Daisy and Cowboy Perfume Collection
Lauren Akins, author, philanthropist and wife of country music singer Thomas Rhett, has collaborated with Nashville-based fragrance house Ranger Station on a set of unisex fragrances and a candle.
Founded in 2015 by Steve and Jordan Soderholm, Ranger Station’s collaboration with Akins is titled Daisy & Cowboy, named after Akins’ and Rhett’s horses. The collection, launched on Monday, is now available exclusively on rangerstation.co and at the brand’s flagship in Nashville.
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Akins is heavily involved with Love One International, a charitable organization that provides aid to children in Uganda, where she serves as vice chairman of the board. Akins previously collaborated with Ranger Station on a candle, with proceeds going toward the charity. This year, when it came time to conceptualize products to support the philanthropic organization, she and Ranger Station decided to add fragrances, in addition to another candle.
“I really wanted to create a scent that I’d never found before — something just right for me and that would be something I could wear on a daily basis…that’s how we came up with Daisy,” Akins said. “When we created the Cowboy perfume, which I also love, it reminded me more of my husband, Thomas Rhett, so I knew we had to use it. I’m so excited that to top it all off, half the proceeds from the sales benefit Love One International, a cause that’s very close to my heart.”
From concept to final product now in stores, the entire process of creating the fragrance took six months. While many might find that a surprising turnaround time for a fragrance, as some typically take years to create, Steve Soderholm serves as the company’s perfumer and Akins knew what she wanted right away, so getting to work on it was easy. Daisy features notes of ambergris with the earthiness of sandalwood and Cowboy features notes of ambergris and leather.
“Lauren really knew what she wanted, and we have the company’s entire perfume studio here in Nashville,” Soderholm said. “I was able to pull a lot of raw materials and because we were able to work in person quite a bit, we got the proportions and ratios right quickly to get the final scent.”
The Soderholms started Ranger Station as a candle company, but fragrance is becoming a larger part of their business. Akin and the Soderholms wanted to make this fragrance unisex because, according to Steve Soderholm, “Historically, women’s fragrances have leaned more on sweet and floral scents, whereas men’s fragrances have leaned more on rustic and woodsy scents, but now we are seeing a meeting in the middle. Women want more fragrances that aren’t sweet and we are seeing a lot of our male customers buy fragrances both them and their wives will wear.”
The campaign for the collaboration features Akins and Rhett on their farm with their horses, in addition to still shots of the fragrances.
“We created perfumes that really capture the rustic, down-to-Earth essence of that and we were even able to take the photos for the project at our farm,” Akins said. “I feel most at peace when I’m in nature and the Daisy perfume really embodies that experience for me.”
The Daisy perfume and Cowboy perfume are priced at $94.
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