2008 Editors’ Choice Award Winner: Fragrance
L’Oeuvre Noire
by Kilian
L’Oeuvre Noire is a collection of luxury fragrances from By Kilian. “I wanted to return to the way that perfume was done 50 years ago, when it was the ultimate luxury product,” says Kilian Hennessy, the brand’s creator. (Hennessy is the grandson of the founder of the Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Group.)
The packaging certainly exudes luxury. All six fragrances are housed in the same refillable rectangular bottle. The bottle’s design brings together contrasting design elements: matte and glossy varnishes, soft and rough finishes, and black and transparent glass.
An ornate black “shield” design was molded on the sides of the glass. Four-part molds were used to create the bottle, rather than typical two-part molds, to prevent visible joint marks on the sides of the bottle. Instead, the marks are brilliantly hidden at the bottle’s edges.
“This molding technique allowed the shield design to remain in one piece, instead of having to be split in half because of the seams,” explains Hennessy. The design required the use of semiautomatic technology. Verreries Brosse supplied the bottle, Valois the pump, and Metapack the cap.
The front and back of the bottle are black as well, leaving only a rectangular frame of clear glass exposing the fragrance. “The front and back sides are coated with a transparent varnish, giving the bottle a very shiny, icy look,” says Hennessy. A matte varnish was used on the sides, giving the shield design a softer, nonglassy look.
A metal plate decorated by Nigermat was glued on the front of the bottle. “Because my bottles are refillable, the glue must last. The only way to ensure this was to use ultraviolet glue to affix the plates,” Hennessy explains.
CPC Packaging awards panelist Nicole Smith, environmental director for Design & Source Productions Inc., admires the eco-friendly aspect of the refillable bottle. “More companies should be designing packaging that is meant to last a lifetime,” she says.
A 1-L glass fountain on a stainless-steel base, modeled after a cognac barrel, is used to refill the bottles. Retailers use the fountain, which can also be purchased for personal use. Seves molded the glass fountain, and Metapack produced the metal stand.
“Creating the glass fountain was a complicated process because it is difficult to achieve such a smooth finish for a glass bottle this large,” says Hennessy. First, the glass was molded and fired. Next, it was hand-sanded and burned again. Finally, the glass was lacquered using black varnish.
The outer packaging is equally luxurious. The fragrance bottle fits snugly inside a black-lacquer wooden box, which locks with a key. The bottle reclines on a bed of black satin. “There is definitely a feeling of old-world luxury that is beautifully conveyed through the packaging,” says awards panelist Alan Bodker, executive director of Origins package development.
Panelist Steve Corsi, director of design development for Markwins International, says, “Executed impeccably. It gives us all a guiding light about what luxury means in design.”