  We present a class of models in which dark matter (DM) is a fermionic singlet
under the Standard Model (SM) gauge group but is charged under a symmetry of
flavour that acts as well on the SM fermions. Interactions between DM and SM
particles are mediated by the scalar fields that spontaneously break the
flavour symmetry, the so-called flavons. In the case of gauged flavour
symmetries, the interactions are also mediated by the flavour gauge bosons. We
first discuss the construction and the generic features of this class of
models. Then a concrete example with an abelian flavour symmetry is considered.
We compute the complementary constraints from the relic abundance, direct
detection experiments and flavour observables, showing that wide portions of
the parameter space are still viable. Other possibilities like non-abelian
flavour symmetries can be analysed within the same framework.
