Fragrance and design

Packaging, ribbons, caps… new bottles like to stand out in style. Among the details that make an instantaneous difference: a ribbon. The fabric bow tied around the neck of Dior’s classic Miss Dior has been reinterpreted in solid, metallic and transparent versions for Miss Dior Cherie. In fact, the ribbon is even one of the keys elements in the perfume’s new ad. Fabric ribbons are in again this season with several brands: Reminiscence, Lanvin and Juicy Couture are all giving them pride of place this season. This very chic detail is no longer only for women: the bottle for Burberry’s The Beat for men (Burberry) is accessorized just like the women’ version, with a thin strip of faux suede.

Another design element that’s indispensable to a bottle’s success: the cap. Sometimes, it seems like a bottle’s charm is all in the cap, which can be tricky at points of sale, where it is often left off to facilitate testing. What would Daisy (Marc Jacobs) be without its 60’s flower power daisy cap, L’Air du Temps without its dove cap, or Féerie (Van Cleef) without its cap with Tinkerbell perched on it? Bottle designers also like to come up with unusual ways to close bottles, like the ones for Kelly Calèche and Terre d’Hermès, whose mechanism is reminiscent of a padlock. Mona di Orio’s bottles were inspired by the muzzle on a Champagne bottle and the one for Cartier’s Roadster evokes an elegant watch knob.

Details also slip into the packaging. At Christian Lacroix, the package’s printed pattern seems to be embroidered. At John Galliano, the outside evokes a character stepped out of the couturier’s imagination, and the inside, the salmon-hued pages of the Financial Times. Among other design details we’re starting to see: invisible pumps, like for Gaultier’s Ma Dame. A trend to watch out for.