Elad Yifrach on L’Objet’s expansion into fragrances. And: why ghost hunting is big business in Japan

0:11Hello and welcome to The Entrepreneurs on Monocle Radio, the show all about inspiring people, innovative companies, and fresh ideas in global business. On today's program, we'll catch up with the founder of a decor company to find out why he moved from designing interiors to creating the objects that bring them to life. You can have the best recipe for the most incredible meal. And if the ingredients are not good, it doesn't matter how great the recipe and how much love you poured into it, it's not going to have the same result. And later, we'll get into the spirit of Halloween as we meet the founder of possibly the only company in Japan, or maybe even the world, that specializes in conducting ghost investigations of real estate properties.

0:55The problem with stigmatized properties mainly comes from a psychological sense of discomfort. This is The Entrepreneurs, with me, Laura Kramer.

1:09You're listening to The Entrepreneurs. Ilad Ifrach is the founder and creative director of Lobjet, a design house known for its handcrafted pieces, ranging from dinnerware to decor, apothecary, and now fragrance. Trained as an interior designer, Ilad started Lobjet some 20 years ago in Los Angeles and has since built a brand celebrated for its craftsmanship, smart collaborations, and a design language rooted in travel and global storytelling. Monocle's Luxury Markets editor Brenda Toohey caught up with Elad to discuss his measured approach to expansion. She began by asking Elad what first inspired him to move from designing spaces to designing the things within them.

1:51When I was working on the spaces, I always find that the accessories and the objects are what brings the soul to the space. I kept looking for things that I couldn't find. And later on, I discovered that there were ideas in my head that I was trying to find and couldn't. And then and I translated it into, okay, these are ideas and I can make them. And it started, honestly, as a very naive, I wouldn't call it a hobby, but experiment. I fell in love with the process, and then it became l 'objet. Your collections often blur the line between art and function. A salt cellar can feel like a sculpture.

2:33A candle, like a piece of theater. How do you strike that balance between beauty and usability? It's a very good question, because functionality is always at the core of what we do. I like to dream like an artist, but create like a designer, and then find a way to blend the two. But I always start with the functionality, and then I build a dream around the functionality, because to me it's not a successful object if one of the elements is missing. and because I'm conscious of how much there is in the world, I try to create things that maybe contribute something that is different and bring a different sensibility and a different experience with my design language.

3:21So it's a nice journey to take. Craftsmanship sits at the heart of everything that you do. Can you tell me about the artisans you collaborate with, where they're based, and how these partnerships began. It started actually with ceramics. The very, very first artisans that I've interacted with were ceramic artisans in Portugal. I had a lot of ideas 20 years ago. It's 20 years that the brand has been going on, and in the beginning I had all these ideas. I was living in L.A. at the time. We didn't have a lot of craftsmanship, at least that I could access in L.A. a friend was mentioning Portugal and I went on a kind of a discovery tour I didn't really know what I was going to see and I fell in love with several of the artisans that I've met and then I started to just draw and look at their technique in their hand and we just played it was a lot of playful conversation that was also a hand play like we really played with our hands on the material, and then it kind of developed from there.

4:27Over the years, I've nurtured a very beautiful relationship with a network of artisans that helped me build a brand design language and my own design language, and like, you know, learning, seeing different techniques that inspired me or showing them something that was crazy and it inspired them to try. These are people that live in villages. Mainly in Portugal? All of our porcelain, wood and ceramic is made in Portugal. And then, of course, all the ancillaries that goes with it. And then I also expand it to other countries. I like to say that I go where the craftsmanship is best and where I can find people that can push the boundaries of that specific material, that material that I want to work with.

5:10So in India, I work a lot with metal and textiles because they're masters of that. and it's very much hand-driven, where in other places it might be a little more mold and machine-driven. And then, like in Peru, I like to do a lot of weaving in the high mountains in Peru with the alpaca wall, stone inlays, sometimes in the Philippines and sometimes in India, depends on the sensibility that I want to create. Our fragrances are made in France. So it's a nomadic, yes, very nomadic. There is a real sense of travel and curiosity in your work. Mediterranean hues, levantine motifs, Japanese restraint.

5:55How do your own journeys and cultural routes feed into this creative process? It's the main feeder. It's the main feeder because I travel so much and I get cues from things that I see, from things that I touch, from different cultures, and the way that they interpret use or functionality of something. the ceremonial around some objects that for us seems like so basic and we don't pay much attention to it's just part of our functioning life where in other places there's so much ceremony around it and that's very inspiring to me because I find that the attention to details and the details that we take pleasure in some of the things that we do make a huge difference to the experience.

6:42So it's always interesting, like, for example, I was in Korea and I found these little boxes that are used for when a guest comes to the house. And you open the box and there are small plates and then underneath in the cavity of the box, usually you offer the guest something precious, usually in a form of a food. So it can be truffle or a very exquisite chocolate, or it could even be a beautiful spice. It's an ancient thing. And I was like, this is so beautiful because it's treasured. That really captured me. And then I took that and I designed a few objects around it. And I love telling that story because it's not just another box.

7:22It's not just another plate. I love when things are storied. And often when we travel, as you've just shown the evidence of, I mean, there are certain traditions that are elevated in a way that we may not elevate them wherever we grew up. Yes. and you've done that in your work. The name L 'Objet is wonderfully direct, simple. I mean, where did you come up with that statement? I mean, it's perfect. Thank you. It was a name that was born out of frustration because when I formed the brand, I was looking for names and I was working with a friend of mine, a lawyer that was helping me register the name and trademark it.

8:01And every idea that I had was taken in one form or another. I remember actually I took a break after a few months I was working on developing the product, etc. I knew what I wanted the logo to look like I kind of had a vague idea but I didn't have the name just yet and I was so frustrated and I took a little break from it and I had in my apartment in LA at the time a book of art terms and I just pulled it out and I was just reading and just kind of futzing with it, no real intention and I came across a sentence that had l 'objet in it. And then underneath, the author explained that in French, l 'objet can be, of course, the object, but it's the way that you use it in a sentence makes a big difference because it can be referring to an object that is of a very elevated status, whether it's from craftsmanship or from its importance or the function.

8:58And then I really liked it and I was like, okay what are the chances that anything like this would ever be available because it's like you said it's very simple and direct and I send the name to the lawyer and he started looking it up and then one day at like 1 a.m I get a call from him on my mobile on my Blackberry and he says it's available do you want it and I said yes let's do it and actually interestingly I was thinking like is that a bad name? Because it was available. I was like, is that a bad name? Like, how is it that nobody was thinking about it? And then I started putting it with the amphora, which is our logo.

9:36And I was like, no, it's like, this is one of the most ancient objects, most primal, original objects, especially in the Mediterranean. And that's what I want to express. You've said before that a home should engage all of the senses. That now includes scent. Your newest fragrance line feels like an extension of your visual world. What inspired it, and how do you go about creating a fragrance? The world of fragrance has always been a big mystery to me. Since I was a child, I used to go to my dad's aftershave and just, like, pretend, you know. And, you know, like my mom used to wear Pasha of Cartier and Elixir from Estee Lauder.

10:18I have a very distinct memory of fragrance. And I think when I was a teenager, I started buying fragrances myself. And I realized that there's a big connection with how it makes you feel and how you present yourself. And so I've always been fascinated by the mystery of fragrance. And when I started L 'Objet, maybe two years after I started, I came out with our first candle range. and that was the first time that I allowed myself some digging into it and then of course also some beautiful interactions with essential oils. I've taken that journey quite slowly and organic, started with the candles and then 10 years ago, exactly 10 years ago, I was connected to Givadon, to the luxury division at Givadon and they've accepted us as a brand to work with the division and then they've introduced me to several master noses as almost like a speed dating kind of experiment and then you see who you click with and I met about three or four of them and there was one that like from the first three minutes I knew I want to work with and his name is Jan Vanille who is kind of like the house nose we've been expanding since with a few more but I found a great connection with him on the point of reference for fragrance from my travels, from like small nuances of an experience in a place or even like from a garden to a flower market to a farmer's market to a beautiful old library and then, of course, specific places around the world, which that was our biggest connection because he travels extensively and so do I.

12:04And I would mention like an area in Marrakesh and he was like, I know exactly what you're talking about and do you know this and that and it was just so explosive that way and I was able to create a lot of storied mood boards with images but also a lot of expressive with the language and I was very careful with not overly influencing with the actual notes because I didn't want to build a base for any of the fragrances. I wanted to give a true expression of how I felt when I was in a place or what I want to capture and then let him see how it, what it awakens in him and then create a conversation.

12:52And then later, you know, like if I had, let's say a rose in my head or a mint or a specific type of wood and he didn't bring it to the table, I would say, okay, can we add that? But I would let him start the base of the formula. And that created a very beautiful dialogue over the past 10 years. And then the journey to arrive at our personal fragrance, the perfume, it was not something that I set from the beginning. In the beginning, I was very much into the home fragrance. So the room sprays and the candles and the incense and diffusers, but I wanted to take a step further in the intimacy with the client, and I introduced Apothecary, where now you have invited me to your home with our home fragrance, and the next step of intimacy I felt was Bath & Body, but it's still kind of cocooning, it's in your space, it's very private, and about four years ago it started really itching me that I need to express this language also into Eau de Parfum.

14:01And I felt that I was ready to take that next level of intimacy with the dialogue that I have with our consumers and the consumers that I still want to meet to create something that you maybe start with it in your home, but then you take it outside and it becomes part of your signature and It becomes something that you choose to present who you are in that, what I call, invisible object of desire. Because there's no way to express it, but it gives you a feeling. You smell someone. You smell so good. And usually, you would say it to somebody that is interesting. You're not going to just go to anybody and say you smell really good.

14:44There's something else that triggers you. and I want to believe that it's the personality and the fragrance that did it that made you give a compliment. Well, I suppose that a fragrance smells different on each different personality. Yes, and a good fragrance should. Yes. If ours with high content of naturals and very high-grade raw ingredients should interact differently with our different chemistries and temperatures and skins. And it's also, I suppose, your first product that you've created for outside of the home as well as inside. Now, collaboration seems key to the brand, from the playfulness of the Haas brothers to Kelly Behoon.

15:28How do you choose creative partners and what makes a collaboration sing rather than feel forced? It's a very intimate process and it's a very intimate journey. And it's usually, not just usually, all of them happen organically, whether through a first interaction and then a conversation that leads to it or a friend that knows you really well and say, I think you should meet this artist or this designer or this person. Because we've done some really successful collabs, you can only imagine the amount of emails and phone calls and dms that i get on we want to and to me it's you know to invite somebody into the creative process is super intimate it's really like sex to me and i don't do it lightly and i don't want to because i feel there's a very beautiful thread that was created over the past 20 years it started with fortuny from venice and And then Lito and the Haas brothers and Kelly and Ruan Hoffman.

16:32And then we have a very beautiful, beautiful collaboration that we're launching next year. And I have a very deep relationship with all of them. And it's the way that I want to create. So I don't plan them. I mean, I might have some ideas of people that I, like, you know, in my dream I want to collaborate with. but the ones that we have, it's all emitting by chance and a real spark. I think it's obvious in what you do. L 'Obsche pieces have a certain weight to them, literally and metaphorically. How important is materiality to you? The integrity of the material, where is it sourced, how is it sourced, how is it being worked on, it's everything.

17:18It's like you can have the best recipe for the most incredible meal. And if the ingredients are not good, it doesn't matter how great the recipe and how much love you poured into it. It's not going to have the same results. So it's everything. And what we do, it's everything from the type of porcelain to the type of leather or metal. It's all extremely important. You've built a global following, yet the collections feel deeply personal. how do you keep that intimacy as the brand grows two ways one is you know the design team is myself and two others so everything that you see here with like so prolific in the amount of collections and categories etc is all done with three people and I like it that way it's been like this since the beginning and I feel that that's what holds the special and it's the same three people?

18:16Not the same three people because life and I've moved. I used to be in LA, then I moved to New York, but I still have some people that I bring in once in a while for a project that have been with me for 18 years, 19 years. So it's the people that have helped me hone in on the design language and the details and what makes an object or a piece l 'objet. That's one. And the second is, I always say we are a big, small brand. And I love that feel. If you go to any of our stores, none of the stores feel the same. I like to imagine the architecture differently in every city, in every building. You know, we are global.

18:58Our customer base is global. They travel. They see the world. They go to all the places where we are. And I want them to have a different interaction in every place that they go to. They might see a lot of the same things, but they will discover them with a different set of eye and a different experience. I mean, that's why we all travel, because we like to go to different places, because they're different than where we live. It expands your mind in a different way. What's a typical day like for you? Are you hands-on in the studio, sketching, or more often traveling and curating experiences? It's all of the above.

19:36I always start with either yoga or a workout or Pilates or meditation. I always like to start the day with that first grounding. And then my team and I like to start the day quiet and each in his own corner to kind of build the energy and do our thing. And then one of us will kind of start the dialogue and we need to look at this. What do you think about that? And I would say within a few hours, it gets into full swing. Some days are more about creating the ideas, and some days are about what we call design engineering. You know, like, okay, how is this idea going to come to life? How are we going to explain it to the artisans?

20:24How are we going to manipulate the material? Everything that needs to happen. So all of this design engineering part. And then there are days of the critics, where you critic the samples and your own design and then the idea that might have looked incredible on paper or even on a 3D model that we've made somehow doesn't sing yet and you work on it to get to that level. And then also imagining that new part together with the rest of the collection. How is it blending with everything else? How are we going to tell the story of this object? Not every day is the same. No, not every day is the same, and I travel a lot.

21:07Finally, you hinted at a new range that you might be bringing out next year, which I am very excited about. Apart from that, what is next? What are you dreaming of? Maybe it's not to do with l 'objet. Maybe it's to do with something else. I dream to travel more, because even though I've been around the world and over many times, I feel that I haven't even scratched the surface. So I feel like that fountain of ideas and creativity and exploration is ever flowing and I want to drink more from that fountain. And at the same time, I also dream to have, I'm a Libra and I'm constantly in search of balance.

21:53So I think as much as I work hard at getting there, I think I will never probably be fully satisfied, but I dream of more balance of time to do nothing because I feel like my best idea comes from those moments. That was Elad Ifrach, the founder and creative director of Lobje. You can find out more by heading to l-obje.com.

22:26You're listening to The Entrepreneurs. As many of us celebrate Halloween this week, we thought it would be only fitting for the serious business show that we are, of course, to mark the spooky season by turning our attention to ghosts and to a company that deals with them all year round. In Japan, Kachimoto has built a reputation for investigating whether homes and buildings are haunted. So-called stigmatized properties, those linked to deaths or misfortune, can be hard to sell. and Kachimoto says it has a practical fix. Monocle's Ryuma Takahashi spoke with the company's founder, Kazutoshi Kodama.

23:04In Japan's real estate market, one of the biggest anxiety people face when looking for a new home is what's known as the jikobukken, a stigmatized property. It refers to places where someone has died or where something mysterious or unsettling is said to have happened. Among those trying to tackle this problem is a company called Kachimodo, which investigates these haunted homes to investigate whether anything unusual is actually happening inside. I spoke with its founder, Kazutoshi Kodama. The problem with stigmatized properties mainly comes from a psychological sense of discomfort. It reflects something deeply rooted in Japanese culture, the idea that death is impure or unlucky.

23:52When there are so many other homes available, people naturally avoid these ones. Landlords usually end up lowering the rent to attract tenants, but that's not ideal for them. And once the rent has dropped, there's no real way to bring it back up. That's why I thought about investigating these places, to prove scientifically that nothing strange is going on in these properties. This company's ghost investigation ends with the certificate stating whether any paranormal activity was detected. This certification can be posted alongside a property listing, helping reassure potential tenants. Kodama says this business idea came from his 15 years career in real estate industry.

24:40Originally, I just wanted to run an ordinary property management company. But over my 15-year career, I handled many apartments where people had passed away. I've managed more than 7 ,000 units. And in about 30 of them, something genuinely strange happened. Even if you clean a room until it's spotless, you can't remove that sense of psychological unease. Under government guidelines, landlords are required to disclose such incidents to potential tenants for three years. But even after that period, their reputation tends to linger. Neighbours talk, people remember. And if a tenant asks whether a place is a stigmatized property, you're not allowed to lie.

25:28Once a property gains that label, it's very hard to shake it off. That's when I realize there might be a way to help owners by properly investigating these unexplained events. Kodama conducts all investigation himself using a scientific approach. I learned this ghost investigation method from a group of researchers in the UK who study supposedly haunted castles. I spend the entire night from 10pm to 6am inside the property. I record video and audio and measure electromagnetic fields, humidity, air pressure and noise levels, as well as temperature using thermal imaging. If something appears on camera but doesn't register on the thermal scan, for example, I can start comparing the data and decide whether it's really something paranormal.

26:27A single ghost investigation costs 80 ,000 Japanese yen, around 500 euro. Ordinary stigmatized properties see lens fall by 20 to 30 percent or remain vacant for a couple of months. But according to Kodama, properties certified as no abnormalities detected have limited their rent losses to around 10%, a meaningful recovery in long-term asset value. So what happens if a ghost actually does show up? If we issue a certificate saying there's nothing abnormal, and later the tenant genuinely experiences something strange, we offer a reward of 1 million yen. For landlords, our certification itself adds value and helps restore rent levels.

27:18For tenants, if something happens, they could claim the rewards. Occasionally, we do find rooms where odd things keep happening. In that case, our company leases the property ourselves, because such places have their own kind of value. We then collaborate with physicists and other researchers to study the space in detail as the subject of research. If the property is enough safe, we sometimes open it to curious guests who want to spend time in a haunted room. Having investigated many properties and even appearing on media as a ghost storyteller, Kodama says this business has changed how he thinks about the ghosts themselves.

28:03During our ghost investigation, I often contact the families of those who passed away. So even if a ghost were to appear, it wouldn't be a stranger to me. Before, one father asked me to investigate the apartment where his daughter had taken her own life. He told me, if her spirit is still there, I would like to see her, to scold her maybe. When I told him, he looked a little disappointed but said, thank you. He would heard that the spirit of a person who had taken their own life remains in the place where they died. So each year, on her death anniversary, he would visit the apartment to pray outside.

28:42After the investigation, he said, Now that I know she's not there anymore, I'll pray for her at home instead. Thank you. The Ghostbuster in the real estate industry offers a triple win business solution, bringing peace of mind to land roads, tenants, and perhaps even to the goats themselves. For Monaco in Tokyo, I'm Ryuma Takahashi. My thanks to Ryuma for that report. You can find out more by heading to kajimoto.co.jp.

29:26That's it for this episode of The Entrepreneurs. The show was edited by David Stevens. Tom Edwards is back next week. Listen again and find out more about the show at monocle.com. That's where you can also subscribe to The Monocle Magazine for more about better business every month. You can also follow us and catch up with the Archive via your preferred podcast platform. To contact the entrepreneurs, you can email me at lrk at monocle.com. I'm Laura Kramer. Goodbye and thanks for listening to The Entrepreneurs.