Editors’ Choice Award Winner: Fragrance
Silver Rain Eau de Parfum
by La Prairie
Why did La Prairie choose a silver raindrop for its Silver Rain eau de parfum? The story behind the concept, as told by the Swiss company, is this: “The purest rain is transformed into brilliant silver ice crystals at the top of the Alps. In the spring, a thousand feet below, rare botanicals bloom in alpine meadows and are watered by the melting ice.” Claude Dir and his team at Quest International Fragrances created the unique scent, which is formulated with these rare botanicals. It requires a thousand pounds of petals to make a single ounce of the scent’s juice, according to La Prairie.
The package’s extraordinary design concept was conceived by the creative team at La Prairie. “The shape of the flacon is perfectly balanced, reflecting the gentle angle of a raindrop,” says Lynn Florio, president of La Prairie.
The first item made for the Silver Rain collection was a limited-edition signed and numbered cachette that contained three replaceable vials of eau de parfum. It was a sterling silver raindrop-shaped sculpture, handcrafted by legendary silversmith Christofle. The Silver Rain eau de parfum bottle was designed to look like an exact replica of this cachette, except that it is molded from glass.
“An automatic production method was necessary due to the large quantities needed in a short time frame. This was a great achievement because the bottle looks as though it were hand-polished,” says Rich Suhr of La Prairie’s packaging team. Supplier Bormioli Rocco produces the bottle.
Once the shape was finalized, La Prairie’s operations team, headed by Anil Kalyanpur, coordinated the decorating process with Solev. The glass was metallized to create a shiny mirror finish. “As soon as a glass bottle is metallized, every small dimple or minor imperfection becomes magnified. We were aware of this and took the proper precautions from the start. We used a much higher quality of glass, which is above the luxury standard,” says Suhr. The operations team also had to be sure the finish would withstand contact with the fragrance.
The electroplated ABS cap is produced by Auriplast. It took much trial and error to marry the two finishes on the plastic cap and the glass bottle, according to Suhr. Because the cap comes to a point at the top, it also took some time for the team to find the right low-profile pump and nozzle to fit inside it. The pump is supplied by Valois of America.
CPC Packaging’s awards panelists highly praised the bottle. “This bottle is very modern, incredibly elegant, and absolutely unmistakable. It is a fantastic design,” says Maiken Erstad, design director for Dragon Rouge.
Jerrod Blandino, founder of Too Faced Cosmetics, says he feels that this bottle represents a juxtaposition that is difficult to achieve. “Its mirrored finish and sexy curves feel both hot and cold at the same time. It looks like a piece of art,” he adds.
Overall, Suhr describes the package development process by saying, “There were many difficult challenges along the way, but we are very excited about this accomplishment.” The La Prairie team deserves praise for achieving this flawless design.