07.25.07
By Ava Caridad, Editor
For the past 35 years, The Fragrance Foundation has honored the best in the fragrance industry by hosting the annual FiFi Awards. Excellence in packaging is recognized by the foundation in four categories: Women’s Prestige, Men’s Prestige, Women’s Popular Appeal and Men’s Popular Appeal. Here’s a look at this year’s winners:
Women’s Prestige: Armani Privé Cuir Amethyste and KenzoAmour
Armani Privé Cuir Amethyste (unisex), Giorgio Armani Beauty
As the latest addition to the Giorgio Armani Beauty stable, the Armani/Privé Cuir Amethyste fragrance continues to support Mr. Armani’s sense of style. Like his fashion designs, the fragrance is the expression of sophisticated elegance and was created with simple, rich materials of the highest quality.
Kenzo Amour |
The fragrance is contained in the signature Armani Privé bottle in Kotibe wood, decorated with a stopper inspired by the semi-precious amethyst stone.
“I am drawn to the symbolism of this stone, long associated with wisdom and humility, and which is meant to be favorable for creativity and meditation,” says Armani. “This intriguing, enigmatic semi-precious stone—shimmering between mauve and violet—perfectly represents this fragrance full of both subtlety and contrast—fresh while exceedingly simple.”
KenzoAmour, Kenzo Parfums
Saint-Gobain Desjonqueres decorated the KenzoAmour bottle. There are different colors for the various sizes: fuschia (30 mL), soft white (50 mL) and orange (100 mL). Four coats of lacquer are required for total opacity, the final one producing an attractive irregular texture termed “effet de vie”. The bottle is smaller than its caps. Its shape suggests a bird, denoting both romantic ardor and the notion of travel. It has a circular base and its rounded form terminates in almost triangular shoulders.
Men’s Prestige: Armani Privé Cuir Amethyst and Viktor & Rolf Antidote
Armani Privé Cuir Amethyst (unisex),
Armani Privé Cuir Amethyst (unisex), Giorgio Armani Beauty
and
Viktor & Rolf Antidote, L’Oréal USA
Bearing the signature of master designer Fabien Baron, the glass bottle with beveled edges (from VDM) is like an apparition: its facets reflect into each other like mirrors. The wax top, designed to resemble a top hat, is a three-dimensional version of the Broadway visual used to present the first Viktor & Rolf “Monsieur” in 2003. The front appeals to the imagination, white like a false collar over a shirtfront. Highlighting this formal look, black ribbons bearing the Viktor & Rolf seal surround this magic box (from Autajon) with mystery. The pump was supplied by Meadwestvaco.
Axilone Plastique provided the polypropylene cap and collar for Antidote. The cap’s brightness is due to the poly-glass treatment of the mould. The cap was manufactured into two pieces in order to avoid any shrink mark, while the collar sports a drop that spreads out to the shoulders of the bottle and runs down the front...“ready to drip above the void, yet poised, motionless...suspended in time.”
Women's Popular Appeal: Secrets D'Essences Voile d'Ambre, Yves Rocher Inc.
Created by the perfumer Olivier Pescheux from Givaudan, Secrets d’Essences Voile d’Ambre is a mysterious and timeless fragrance built around the magic of amber: the alchemy of balms, precious woods and resins. The bottle’s classical form abounds with transparency and radiance and is reminiscent of a perfumer’s vials. The bottle is an expression of simplicity, the signature of its cachet. The glass is heavy, even weighty in the hand, balanced with its substantial yet feminine base. An exercise in curves and refinement; even the edges of the stopper have been bevelled for greater delicacy.
Rather than camouflaging its contents, the bottle fades into the background to enhance them, leaving us with the brilliance of liquid topaz set in pure light. The box, in very simple embossed cardboard, is closed with an authentic seal and a thin cord. Just a few lines of black print whisper the name of the fragrance. The Aesthète agency designed the bottle and Carré Basset the box. The primary container was manufactured by Saint Gobin Desjonquières, the cap supplier was MT Packaging and the secondary packaging was manufactured by Alliora.
Derek Jeter Driven |
Avon’s new signature fragrance Derek Jeter Driven, named after the New York Yankees’ baseball star, comes in a light blue bottle with a sleek silver cap from Seidel GmbH + Co. The unique cap is made from deep-drawn, ultra-pure aluminum and its rectangular shape completes the bottle’s design perfectly. The smooth, shiny silver anodized aluminum surface was laser-engraved with the fragrance name and fitted with a light-blue translucent plastic plate on top in the same color as the light-blue glass bottle.