Evocative of a banded, faceted heart, the bottle for Elizabeth Arden Untold features precise glass distribution.

The fragrance category took a hit during the recession, but has steadily been making a comeback, according to global market research provider Mintel. Though economic security remains an obstacle to luxury spending, consumers seem to be growing more open to loosening the purse strings when it comes to treating themselves to moderately priced luxury items, such as fragrances. And whether it’s a mass or prestige fragrance, packaging is the medium that conveys that message of much-deserved luxury.

In the fragrance category, the first impression is everything. “There is a blurring of the lines between prestige and mass fragrances as ‘value-oriented’ lines are also achieving a prestige look in packaging by ‘dressing’ up the packaging using a variety of innovative decoration techniques,” says Sheherazade Chamlou, vice president of sales and marketing, Perfumery Division, SGD North America, SGD, NY.

“First impressions are as important in the luxury category as in any product category, but prestige brands must be even more careful when crafting packaging than mass brands,” she says, adding that luxury brands tend to opt for cleaner looks with “heavy, perfect glass distribution, invisible seam lines and crystal-clear glass.”

Decoratively speaking, sophistication is paramount and the current trend is the marriage of materials—glass and metal or glass and plastic—“to create impactful, emotional, and timeless elegance.”

Evocative of a banded, faceted heart, the bottle SGD produced for Elizabeth Arden Untold was an interesting project because of the precise glass distribution within the bottle.

“To increase the level of complexity, the design required a faceted, crosshatched look to the front and back,” says Chamlou. “In order to facilitate this, we utilized the front and back of the bottle to give this effect: Each side had facets in opposite directions. Due to its subtle curvature, the bottle takes on an appearance that is strikingly different at every angle.”

And though it was daunting, executing the bottle’s shiny metal banding was a feat that Chamlou says was overcome by “the collaboration of cross-functional teamwork.”

According to Kim-Van Dang, a New York-based fine fragrance branding expert at KVD NYC Inc., there are currently two divergent trends in prestige fragrance packaging. “On the one hand, you have sleek, black packaging best exemplified by Tom Ford and By Kilian,” she says. “On the other end of the spectrum, you have brands that take chances.”

Dang points to Paris-based Olfactive Studio, a French FiFi award winner for Best Niche Brand Concept. “The brand takes its packaging cues from the world of photography,” she says. “Its square perfume bottle mirrors the shape of a Polaroid print, its black cap resembles a camera lens and the outer packaging is modeled after a box of Ilford photo paper. That said, it’s all very subtle and chic, not gimmicky.

“When well-executed, novel approaches like this really help to drive home a brand’s story,” says Dang.

Balenciaga’s Florabotanica was the product oftight time constraints and even tighter teamwork.

Carefully Crafted Luxe

Another brand Dang thinks took an exciting design chance was Balenciaga’s Florabotanica. It “features a clear glass bottle with red and blue sides and a black and white engineered stripe cap and tube,” she explains. “It’s packaged in a floral-print box, and the juxtaposition is very modern.”

The bottle, produced by Aptar, was the product of tight time constraints and even tighter teamwork. The design team was tasked with developing five molds and custom components, including a custom cap, outer shell, an ST ferrule with specific diameter and three versions of a dip tube cover—all of which were produced in less than four months.

Eight internal and external suppliers worked seven days a week to develop, produce and assemble components, with one molding supplier chosen to carry out the prototype and commercialization phase, ensuring the timely production of all materials.

“Balenciaga’s creative director at the time had specific design requirements, including custom decoration of the cap, outer-shell and dip tube cover to complete the Balenciaga experience,” recalls Des McEttrick, Aptar’s market development director, NA Beauty. “Structured black and white lines were essential in honoring the signature design element treasured by Cristobal Balenciaga, but also in creating the timeless stand-out look of the fragrance package.”

Clean black lines were hot stamped onto the cap and outer-shell. “This decoration method uses a controlled heat to transfer color to a surface with pressure and precision,” she explains. The foil is deeply etched into the plastic surface and laminated with a protective covering.

“The custom cap and outer-shell were to reflect the dip tube cover which would be immersed in the fragrance,” says McEttrick. “Because hot-stamping would not be an option for the dip tube cover, Aptar proposed they develop a bi-injected black and white dip tube cover made from polypropylene to achieve function and style simultaneously.”

The development timing was a record for Aptar France. “Communication with our client at each step of the project proved to be the most crucial in fulfilling all expectations,” says Yohann Coheleach, senior account manager, Aptar France. “To develop so many custom components in such a short period of time was a great challenge and success for our team.”

In the mass segment, Len Loffler, marketing director, New High Glass (NHG), Miami, FL, reports that fragrance marketers continue to turn to stock bottles with creatively engineered boxes to create unique brand images.

The mass category is also mirroring its prestige cousin in another regard, he said, by using recognizable pop culture items like flasks, soda bottles, car tires—juxtaposing seemingly unrelated products to seize attention.

“Elaborately designed plastic, rubber or metal elements are also used to ‘dress up’ a stock bottle, whether it be an oversized cap, a sleeve or a band placed around the container,” he adds. “Beautifully decorated and designed PET bottles in bright colors are hot for water-based body sprays; they are often hard to distinguish from glass at first glance.”

The bottles for two fragrances—Road Spirit and the Le Parfum Baques—both produced by NHG, are great examples of how stock bottles can deliver entirely different results.

Road Spirit is a men’s cologne inspired by motor sports.

“Road Spirit was a men’s cologne inspired by motor sports, the simple idea of surrounding a stock low profile cylindrical bottle with an actual rubber tire was the creation of TSU Cosmeticos, Argentina,” according to Loffler. He says that NHG supplied the bottle and sprayer.

Le Parfum Baques was created by Lier, Argentina to celebrate their 25th anniversary. “The hexagonal box with the bright pink floral liner gives the product a very special commemorative presentation,” says Loffler, who also notes that the bottle, sprayer and clear flush over cap were all supplied by NHG.

In the mass sector, many decorating innovations are driven by clients in search of original looks, says

A complex masking process paid dividends for Victoria’s Secret Heartbreaker EDT.

Richard Engel, executive vice president, Decotech Inc., Englewood, NJ. “More importantly, these difficult and innovative client requests drive us to find new and creative ways to achieve their desired looks, and that’s good for the industry as a whole because new doors and possibilities open up for everyone.”

Recently, Decotech was challenged with a difficult masked spray coating job for Victoria’s Secret Heartbreaker EDT, which required that the entire bottle body be masked, except for the shoulder. “It sounds simple, but when you see the shape of this bottle you will see that there was nothing for this mask to hold onto and stay put during the spray coating process,” says Engel. “Besides that, this was a custom glass form and we didn’t get sample glass to work with until very late in the process, so the engineering and development time was shortened significantly.”

The Decotech team was able to implement a test concept and ramp up a production-ready status in weeks with a masking technique that had never been used before. “The end result came out so well that people thought the black sprayed part of the glass was an actual cap or plastic fitting,” he says. “They didn’t even realize it was direct spray color on the bottle.”

Music Star Pop-portunities

Nicki Minaj’s Minajesty showcases a look that’s as bold and vivacious as the pop star herself.

Not everyone can afford to live the life of a pop star but they can live vicariously through pop star fragrances. The market is positively brimming with singer scents, the most recent of which shine the spotlight on Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj.

Katy Perry Killer Queen, which launched in August 2013, was a collaboration of regal proportions between Aptar and Coty. The technical challenge, according to Aptar’s McEttrick was the silk-screening decoration on the bottle collar, a wet process whereby ink is squeezed through a mesh material onto the surface being decorated.

Fortunately they didn’t have to recreate the wheel—the team reinterpreted the same decorative technique used on the Lady Gaga Fame bottle, also by Coty. “Coty won’t sacrifice quality in the hopes that we meet a deadline,” she said. “Katy Perry was determined to put out a quality product which exceeded expectations and could compete with the most popular fragrances on the market. Our team took the steps necessary to ensure every piece of Killer Queen was produced accurately and fulfilled her overall vision.”

Nicki Minaj’s forthcoming second fragrance, Minajesty, debuts this month. Much like the singer’s first fragrance, the bottle is a bust of her torso. This time she’s sporting a red bustier and the bottle is crowned with larger-than-life, cotton candy colored curls framing a gold face—the bottle’s cap.

Elizabeth Arden described the bottle as making a “bold and confident statement” with “outrageous presence and vivacious allure.”

All of the bottles in the Minajesty range were supplied by Pochet. The two larger bottle sizes feature a sublimation style combination of plastic and glass achieved by Solev (part of the Pochet group), while the other two bottle sizes were accomplished using “sleever” style technology by Sleever International, Mississauga, ONT, Canada, according to Kal Kalyanasundaram, sales manager, Pochet, Wayne, NJ.

The “hair” cap was realized by Qualipac (also part of the Pochet group). “The hair was extremely difficult to mold because it had a lot of open surface area,” says Kalyanasundaram. “The decoration on the lips and eyes was also very challenging. There was great difficulty in the molding process.”

Kalyanasundaram credits the package’s completion to group synergy. “Having been able to do this inside of our group is the main reason we were able to do this package,” he says. “For instance, the perfect fit of the cap, the decoration around the bust, and the following all the curves—all of that was made possible because the engineers were able to talk to each other throughout the design process.”

Competition in the fragrance industry is fierce—especially when it comes to pop star fragrances. There is another package for a singer’s fragrance in the early stages of development at YourBrandNameFragrances in Trinity, FL. And though she can’t name who she is designing for, Nathalie Giroux-Roussel, director, business development, is feeling the pressure to bring the star’s vision to reality. “In the perfume industry, competition is fierce,” she says. “Designer fragrances seem to own the market. In order to get the consumer’s attention, smaller brands must have an edge.”

The edge, she says, is telling a unique story. “Our company has been working for several months with a famous pop singer,” she says. “She was looking for a sexy, daring design to fit her new album and we were inspired by her song lyrics.”

The singer desired two fragrances, one for men, one for women, so the company devised a customized round-shaped box that would accommodate two custom-molded perfume bottles. “Our engineer is now designing an exclusive look for the two bottles––both shapes will come together as one,” says Giroux-Roussel.

Bright Forecast

Looking ahead, Mintel forecasts continued healthy growth for the fragrance industry in accordance with the economic recovery. Despite the highly competitive and saturated market, the firm said positive sales growth should be expected for both the women’s and men’s segments through 2017, no doubt paving the way for increased packaging innovations.