Applications: Eau de New York
By Marie Redding, Senior Editor
Laurice Rahme, founder and president of Laurice & Co. and Bond No. 9 New York, has launched a new fragrance, Eau de New York. Its bottle's shape, which you might think resembles a star, is meant to represent a person, according to Rahme. It is similar to the bottles that house the rest of the fragrances in the Bond No. 9 collection. The other scents in the collection are all named after specific neighborhoods in New York, but now Eau de New York is meant to capture the essence of the entire city. Its glass bottle is decorated with colorful subway tokens on an opaque white background.
Eau de New York is meant to celebrate "the complexity and uniqueness of everyone in New York," says Rahme. You are not meant to see the fragrance because "New Yorkers are mysterious," Rahme explains. The complex decoration on the bottle was done by Decotech Inc. (Englewood, NJ).
Rahme understands that packaging is an important part of the cosmetics industry. Consequently, she is always challenging her suppliers to do something unique. For this bottle, Rahme envisioned the look, feel, and brilliant colors of a Russian lacquered box.
"It was a tremendous challenge," says Richard Engel, president, Decotech. "Laurice had given us very clear direction, but the first thing we said was that it couldn't be done. We had no idea how we would do it."
After a few weeks of trying different approaches and several techniques, Engel finally came up with a combination of processes that he knew would work. "We were very surprised and excited," says Engel. "We called Laurice right away to tell her, but she just said, 'I knew you could.'" Since this bottle doesn't resemble anything Decotech has ever done before, Engel calls it the "Laurice Look." The colors are extremely vibrant, with a white, pearlescent coating.
Engel utilized a number of techniques, including spraying, printing, and stamping, to create this decoration. He had to find ways to make all the processes work together. Engel explains, "What is interesting is that we used a number of different techniques that are traditionally not compatible with each other, but we found ways to make them work together."
The colorful tokens give the bottle a three-dimensional look, as if they are floating between the coatings. Fifteen different colors are used, all applied with a high level of registration and precision, according to Engel.
Already working on Rahme's next challenging project, Engel says, "Laurice is an extraordinarily creative individual, always pushing us to another level."