Editors’ Choice Award Winner: Fragrance
Juicy Couture Parfum
by Liz Claiborne Cosmetics
The over-the-top packaging designed for Juicy Couture Parfum gives new meaning to the phrase, “It’s all in the details.” Simply stating that this package tells the brand’s story is not enough. Each time you pick up this fragrance package, something else seems to catch your eye, transporting you further into Juicy Couture’s fairy-tale world.
“The packaging is intended to reflect the fact that for the Juicy customer, more is never enough. It had to be designed to look almost like a fantasy piece,” says Paul McLaughlin, creative director for Liz Claiborne Cosmetics. McLaughlin designed this packaging and also participated as a CPC Packaging awards panelist this year.
The fact that each component is so detailed, and with parts created simultaneously in different parts of the world, made the entire production a challenge. “The timing was very difficult,” McLaughlin says.
All of the bottles in the line are adorned with different charms depending on the size of bottle purchased. The 100-ml bottle has a necklace that wraps around the base of the cap. This necklace has a “J” charm and an ivory crown. “Twenty million rhinestones had to be ordered just for the ‘J,’ and each stone was applied by hand,” says McLaughlin. “It took an enormous amount of effort to make sure that everything was produced according to the right specifications. Pages and pages of manufacturing instructions were required.”
The 1-oz bottle displays a small heart-shaped padlock charm, which is fully functional. It resembles what might be used to lock a teenager’s diary. The front of the miniature padlock is decorated with a rhinestone-studded crescent-shaped emblem. Swing the emblem to one side, and a tiny keyhole is revealed. A removable silver chain hangs from the lock, with a dollhouse-sized key at its end. The key is adorned with a tiny heart and crown.
The wide rectangular bottle has sharp, squared corners. Its weight makes it feel luxurious. Heinz Glas produces the bottle, and Rexam Dispensing Systems supplies the pump.
McLaughlin had Juicy Couture’s signature logo reproduced as a detailed rendering etched onto a metal plate. This plaque is applied to a recessed area on the front of each bottle. The cap resembles beveled crystal and is supplied by C+N Packaging. The cap used on the larger spray bottle is made from Surlyn, and the 1-oz bottle has a glass stopper.
An elaborate pink box with brown trim, supplied by Shorewood Packaging, was designed for the 1-oz bottle. When the hinged lid is flipped back, the front panel of the box falls forward, lying flat. The bottle sits atop a pedestal inside the box, as if it were on a stage. The back panel of the box behind the bottle is covered in silver mirrored paper that is embossed with a quilted pattern. There is also a drawer inside the box where jewelry can be kept. “The silver drawer pull has little crowns on each end,” says McLaughlin. The drawer contains a small hard-cover journal.
“The bottle and box complement each other very well,” says awards panelist Hana Zalzal, president of Cargo Cosmetics. She feels that the package’s keepsake items work as a constant reminder of the brand. Panelist Peter Hargraves, section head for Procter & Gamble global packaging and device development, cosmetics, agrees. “Secondary packaging is very important, and this box demonstrates an incredible amount of attention to detail. They have done a great job in differentiating this brand in the fragrance world,” says Hargraves.