2009 Editors’ Choice Award Winner: Fragrance
Féerie by Van Cleef & Arpels
by Inter Parfums
Féerie by Van Cleef & Arpels embodies all of the characteristics one would expect of a fragrance bottle launched by a luxurious jeweler. “The idea was to create an object that linked the fragrance bottle to the jewelry brand,” says Philippe Benacin, vice chairman and president of Inter Parfums. Inter Parfums collaborated with the team at Brandimage-Desgrippes & Laga on the package design.
“The role of luxury brands, especially fragrance brands, is to provide a way to fantasize and escape a little bit from reality. Féerie fulfills this role,” says Marine Guillou Doré, strategy and concept consultant, Brandimage-Desgrippes & Laga. Doré worked with the company’s creative director Joël Desgrippes, artistic director Eric Douane, and design director Sylvie Verdier.
Every element of the packaging was carefully planned, using the jeweler’s many fairy-inspired pieces as inspiration. The extravagant, delicate cap sprouts a fairy perched atop a tall tree branch. The cap’s moonflower-shaped collar, the branch, and the fairy are all made from zamac.
The fairy comprises three different parts that were riveted together and electroplated to resemble a piece of handmade jewelry. “The cap’s parts were all molded, cut, polished, and plated,” says Eric Vanin, vice president of sales, Qualipac, which produced the cap.
CPC Packaging awards panelist Maggie Wedemeyer, vice president of package development, Inter Parfums, notes the technical expertise that was involved. “The cap is perfectly executed, leading the consumer to notice the frailty of the cap, not the difficulty of the molding and plating.”
The blue lacquered glass bottle, produced by Bormioli Luigi, is faceted with sharp edges that are meant to evoke the look of a glistening gemstone. “The lack of visible parting lines on the bottle is itself a work of art,” says Wedemeyer.
Awards panelist Jon Dinapoli, the creative director of Coty Prestige, notices how the bottle looks delicate but feels very strong and substantial when picked up. “I like the balance of the faceted jewel-like bottle against the sleek sculptural look of the cap.”
The deep-blue carton, produced by Alliora, features an offset-printed holographic film lamination, plus varnishing and embossing. The carton sparkles with graphics that look like fairy dust, thanks to the right combination of holographic film and offset printing.
Removing the bottle from the carton was made easy thanks to a flower-shaped pull on top of the carton’s protective inner liner. Once pulled out of the carton, the liner, which is basically an internal box, has a front wall that opens in two panels. As the panels swing open, they reveal the bottle sitting on a pedestal. “It’s great that there is no need for the consumer to shake or pull the bottle out from the carton,” says Wedemeyer.
The liner is meant to represent a blooming flower and convey the notion of “opening the door to a magical universe,” according to Brandimage-Desgrippes & Laga. It also feels like opening a jewelry box, says Wedemeyer.
Dinapoli feels that the liner’s design was very creative. “I love how it becomes interactive and intentionally designed to be part of the consumer’s experience with the package.”
“The entire experience of opening the package makes this my favorite package of the year,” Wedemeyer adds.