Design Interview: Diane von Furstenberg
Diane von Furstenberg The DVF Beauty Collection
By Marie Redding, Senior EditorFashion designer Diane von Furstenberg launched a stylish-looking cosmetic line in September, the DVF Beauty Collection. Known in the fashion world for her legendary disco-era wrap dress, von Furstenberg had launched a beauty collection 15 years ago. She is determined to make it work this time by being involved in formulations and choosing colors. Her line also includes a fragrance called D.
Teaming up with her licensee Inter Parfums Inc., von Furstenberg was involved in every aspect of developing colors and designing packaging for the DVF Beauty Collection. “Diane had her sleeves rolled up and apron on in the kitchen since day one,” says Bruce Elbilia, executive vice president at Inter Parfums Inc.
The Beauty Collection includes double-ended lip gloss duets, a double-ended lip-and-eye pencil, a cheek stick, and the flat, pillow compact in various sizes containing a variety of products.
Von Furstenberg says that the decisions involved in package design were simple for her.
“I knew I didn’t want black. I wanted light, shine, and glamour. It also had to feel glamorous, which was most important,” says von Furstenberg. Another requirement: the lipstick had to feel very heavy.
To achieve this look and feel, the lipstick and mascara containers are metal, while the plastic compacts are metallized and spray coated. The whole line has a white, pearlized, UV finish.
“By integrating Diane’s fashion sensibility, the line was executed in her vision,” Elbilia says. “It has a luxurious, sexy feel. The elements of color plus the hole-punched design of ‘DVF’ make a strong visual impact.”
Topline Products (Wayne, NJ) supplied the components and decorated the entire line by enlisting the help of a few outside sources. Charles Chang, Topline’s president, predicts that von Furstenberg has begun a trend in packaging—just like she has in fashion.
“We actually tried to suggest other compact shapes, but Diane’s mind was made up, and she was right. We updated its shape to make it more modern and sleek. Now, we may see a demand for this type of component as a result.”
The oversized “Glamour Compact,” containing four types of face color plus brushes, is von Furstenberg’s favorite. “It’s my pride—practical, yet very glamorous. It feels like a gambling chip,” she says.
The fragrance, in an elegantly simple bottle by Bormioli Rocco, is the first in a collection of scents, designed to be a “fragrance wardrobe.” A new one is expected to launch about every year-and-a-half, alternating between spring and fall. The next one is tentatively scheduled for spring 2005. We can also expect bath and skin-care lines in the future.
The fragrance is housed in a stylish paperboard canister by Chicago Paper Tube & Can Company, Inc. Finding similarities in both worlds of fashion and beauty, von Furstenberg says, “My role is the same—to give women little tools to make them more beautiful. As a woman, I know how to create things to make other women feel more confident, therefore more beautiful. As a designer, I know how to make it look stylish. That is my job, and I love it.”