Visions of Shanghai
Designer Marc Rosen launches his own fragrance.
By Marie Redding, Senior EditorIn his extensive 25-year career, Marc Rosen has designed packaging for many well-known clients. He has won six FiFi Awards. Now he has become the first package designer to launch his own luxury fragrance, Shanghai. The fragrance is launching under the banner "Horizon Beauty LLC," a company created by financier Gerald Tsai Jr.
"We wanted to return to the days of the glamorous fragrance launch--when it was an exciting thing to both the retailers and consumers," says Rosen.
Shanghai hits counters on February 8, for an exclusive two-week launch at Saks Fifth Avenue, in all its 60 doors across the United States. It is right on time
for both Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year.
Shanghai will initially be sold in two sizes: a 50-ml eau de parfum and a 15-ml perfume. Rosen will also continue to run his three other businesses: Marc Rosen Associates Package Design, Prêt-à-Porter Custom Standards, and ACCESSmr.
Creating a Concept
It may have something to do with Rosen's reputation in the industry or his role as a professor at New York's Pratt Institute for graduate students studying fragrance package design, but this launch seems to follow all the rules. It even creates a few new ones.
"The concept comes first," says Rosen. He explains the next steps: From the concept, decide the name. Next, design the bottle, develop the fragrance, and think about advertising.
"This is the way it always should work, theoretically," Rosen says.
Since Rosen was fully responsible for all the creative decisions, he was able to green light his own ideas. With one person at the helm, this launch is a textbook example of how a strongly focused creative concept can unify every aspect of a launch.
"This is the way we used to launch fragrances, like Fendi and Lagerfeld. One person had a vision for all of the creative," says Rosen.
Kevin Marshall, vice president, creative director, at Marc Rosen Associates, says, "Having one creative source has definitely been an advantage. The promotional elements are coordinated, and the strong brand identity shows throughout."
Rosen traveled to Shanghai a few years ago and the city left an impression. Shanghai is Asia's fast-growing fashion capital. Its skyline contrasts old, pagoda-shaped buildings with ultramodern buildings.
"There's something glamorous and fashionable about Shanghai. Say it, and you'll get a visual image. The name connotes intrigue, mystery, romance—the allure of vintage films," says Rosen. "Everyone will think of something different, but the important thing is that they get some type of positive image from the name."
Challenging Shapes
Once the fragrance's name was decided, next came the bottle's design, which is meant to reflect the city's mix of old and new.
"There hasn't been enough newness in the industry. So many new fragrances today are launched in the same bottles, over and over," remarks Rosen. This thought inspired him to dream up an entirely new, unique bottle shape for Shanghai.
The modern-looking round, clear bottle is supplied by Brosse USA (New York City). It suspends the fiery red juice in the upper half of its sphere. To some, it resembles a red sun rising over the horizon. The shiny gold-plated cap by Maticplast (Milan, Italy) adds the chinoiserie element. It has a horizontal lucite rod going through
it that looks like the pole that is traditionally carried in Asia on one's shoulders with pails of water hanging from each end.
The bottom half of the globe-shaped bottle is solid glass. At a weight of more than 350 grams, it is the heaviest glass Brosse USA has ever blow molded into a round shape, using a traditional semiautomatic technique. The 50/50 split was a difficult process.
Emanuele Mazzei, president of Brosse USA, explains, "A round shape is challenging, because it is based on very stringent aesthetic parameters. The trick is being able to control the weight of the glass over and over again. We use certain proprietary techniques to do so."
Rosen envisioned the cap on top to feel as if it were a piece of jewelry. "I wanted the clear rod to look as if it was going through the gold rings," he explains.
The bar is made with a clear PCTA resin supplied by Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, TN) that has excellent resistance to alcohol and fragrance, reports John Vaccaro, U.S. marketing director, Maticplast. The rest of the cap is injection-molded ABS, electroplated in shiny gold. Three molded and electroplated gold half-rings snap down over the clear rod. The bottom end of the rod extends down through the cap. The rod is the post for the polyethylene plastimeri stopper assembly. The three-piece cap assembly was a challenge to design and engineer, says Vaccaro. "All of these materials come in contact with the fragrance and had to have excellent product resistance characteristics," he says.
Vaccaro continues: "We are happy we were able to achieve Marc's design to his satisfaction and glad he had the confidence in our capabilities to choose us to work with."
Secondary Packaging Shines
The graphics on both the folding carton, supplied by Arkay Packaging (New York City), and the setup box, by Knoll Printing & Packaging (Roslyn, NY), reflect the bottle's design.
"I like the way Marc married the bottle's design with the secondary packaging. The shape of the bottle and cap are reflected on the carton. It is consistent for the consumer, and it acts as a preview of what you are about to see when you open the box," says Mitchell Kaneff, Arkay's president.
Just about every decorating technique was used to give the cartons a more upscale look and the perception of added value for the consumer. The exterior and the interior of the folding carton were decorated and printed with custom-blended UV inks. The name Shanghai was hot-stamped in gold, the red sun was embossed, and the entire carton was laminated with a high-gloss acetate. The inside, custom-designed E-flute liner was vat-dyed deep black.
"Marc wanted lots of depth and color in the graphics, so we double-bumped the inks to achieve the desired color opacity," explains Tom Dasilva, national sales manager, Arkay Packaging. A very smooth, high-whiteness solid-bleached-sulfate board by Smurfit Stone was utilized for the folding carton.
Knoll Printing & Packaging made the setup box to house the 50-ml EDT, which was a challenge because the bar on top of the cap is longer than the width of the bottle's base.
"It is a delicate piece, without any straight edges to firmly hold the bottle in the box," explains Paul Morris, vice president of business development at Knoll. The bottle had to be secure inside the box so it wouldn't be damaged during shipping.
Searching for an alternative to the recessed cavity or vacuum-formed tray, Knoll developed a clear plastic cup to act as a showcase for the bottle inside the box. It was injection molded and positioned to come up through the bottom of the box,
suspending the round bottle inside on the box's platform base.
"The cup was designed to hold the bottle as if it were a setting for a jewel. Since it is crystal clear, it really shows off the bottle," says Morris. "We are proud to have been able to develop this concept and turn it around within two months."
Promotional Elements
Rosen creatively planned every aspect of the launch. Plans were not yet finalized at press time, but customers walking through Saks stores may feel as if they have been transported to Shanghai. One idea in the works with Zorbit Resources Inc. is to have tiny umbrellas sprayed with the scent, or fortune cookies made with scented strips inside.
Arkay Packaging and Knoll Printing & Packaging created Shanghai's secondary boxes. On-counter displays are being supplied by Zorbit. The bottle and factice will each sit on their own shiny black lacquer trays, with ends that curve up like a pagoda. The wooden trays were sprayed on the production run with a black enamel coating, and then siliconed to keep the enamel in place, says Scott Kestenbaum, vice president, sales and marketing, at Zorbit. A large red fan will be opened behind the tray and attached to it on both sides.
Kestenbaum says, "We constructed the fan with a red irridescent satin material and assembled it backwards in order to conceal the ribs. When light hits the fan, the ribs behind it become a silhouette, framing the bottle perfectly as it sits on the tray. We wanted the Shanghai display to capture consumers' attention and compel them to stop at the counter as they walk by."
Zorbit also created a black and red satin evening bag in the shape of a Chinese food takeout container, which will be used for a Mother's Day promotion. The bag will contain a purse spray.
Forces Unite
Supported by all of the personal touches for this launch, Shanghai seems set to infuse the fragrance industry with excitement.
"Everyone has just been amazing. This project has been about us all working together to create something special," says Rosen. He is especially grateful to Debra Walters at Saks, who, he says, "really made it happen." The fragrance will be distributed by Gary Farn.
Rosen continues, "Firmenich, [Shanghai's perfumer], never works with smaller companies, but yet they gave us their top perfumer." Even the perfumer's husband, a Chinese acupuncturist, became involved by giving ideas for ingredients that promote wellness and spirituality. The scent contains top notes of bergamot, green pineapple, cinnamon oil, and magnolia. Heart notes are a mixture of the ancient Chinese osmanthus flower, jasmine petals, and patchouli. Base notes include vanilla bourbon, balsam woods, ambergris, and wild plum.
Of course, the designer is never the most popular person at the start of any project, but Rosen's initial creative vision did not have to change much throughout the manufacturing process. "Whenever someone would say something couldn't be made in a certain way, I had to just keep saying, 'You can do it,' until eventually, they found a way," says Rosen.
A package designer's goal is to always make the consumer want to reach out and touch it. "I hope that is what this bottle does," says Rosen. With a smile, he says, "This has been a dream project for me."