Applications: Visionary Concept
.Scent. Photo courtesy of Rexam Dispensing Systems.Fragrance and art connect in Visionaire
By Jennifer Kwok, Managing EditorTo some, fragrance is an art form. A beautifully crafted perfume bottle can sit on a bathroom counter like sculpture. Smelling the fragrance within the bottle can conjure up emotions and images just as a painting can.
Scent's David Bowie-inspired piece, Success, shows grains of sand slipping from model Iman's hand.Visionaire, the exclusive, multiformat publication, highlights the connection between fragrance and art in its 42nd limited-edition issue. Scent links the two in a unique, interactive format.
The "magazine" comes in the form of a hinged case. Housed in the case are a book and 21 fragrance vials. Each fragrance corresponds to a piece of art featured in the book. Artists, including fashion designers, photographers, chefs, and celebrities, collaborated with perfumers appointed by the premier fragrance formulator International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF; New York City). Each perfumer-and-artist team inspired a piece of art and its matching scent. The list of contributors includes notable names such as Karl Lagerfeld, David Bowie, Kate Moss, and Iman.
Visionaire editor Cecilia Dean explains the inspiration behind Scent. "Scent was an interesting concept to us because it lets us explore the different ways that people connect scents to abstract objects," she says. "I think that the sense of smell is probably the most underrated sense that we have because we often take it for granted. The way we interpret scents is extremely subjective."
Scent readers may also get a sense of the unexpected. "Not all of the scents are pretty smells or what you'd expect from a perfume," says Dean. Fragrances such as Hunger, Electricity, Wasteland, and Strange are as unique as their names. The book's images are just as intriguing. One example is the scent called Success. For this scent, David Bowie inspired a photo of model Iman's fist clutching sand as the sand falls through her fingers. Visionaire lets readers determine whether or not the photo's interpretation is that success is fleeting.
Facilitating Scent's components was a big project. "We first discussed the concept of Scent with IFF about five years ago," says Dean. "This was a huge undertaking. It involved 21 perfumers and 21 artists from three continents and five countries."
Producing the packaging was just as challenging. The case was modeled after the type of case that perfumers use to carry around vials of fragrance samples. "We basically adapted the type of case a perfumer would carry, except that our version is more luxurious looking and holds a book," says Dean. "We copied the same dimensions and mechanisms that those types of cases typically have."
New York-based supplier Wathne created the case. The case's covers are white vinyl. The inside of the case features white flocking, as does the book's cover.
The 4-ml fragrance vials are Rexam Dispensing Systems's (Purchase NY) Sofilux spray samplers. Each vial was silk-screened with the number, from 1 to 21, that corresponds to the book's graphic counterpart, which is also numbered. "IFF recommended Rexam's vials," says Dean. "We evaluated a number of vials from different suppliers. In the end, we liked Rexam's best because they were simple, slick, and had no separate parts. Also, since we needed bottles that wouldn't spill, we didn't want to use a bottle with a cap. Rexam's spray vials really fit the bill."
The vials were filled and packaged by Le Papillon (New Brunswick, NJ). Foam compartments hold the vials in place. Two stacks of acid-free paper blotters, supplied by Orlandi Inc. (Farmingdale, NY), also come with the issue, as a means for readers to sample the scents.