The look of the bottle, the designer, the brand or the smell can all make fragrances hugely collectable items. Anca Gurzu examines the importance of the luxury bottle in selling the scent
When it comes to perfume bottles, it is the attention to detail that speaks to luxury, and for the scent business, packaging really can add value. The bottle attracts the consumer and sells the image – it is the door to the fragrance inside. Not only can aesthetics lead to luxury aspiration, but also promote sales, especially in high-end sectors. The right perfume bottle design boosts the value of the scent, allowing luxury perfume houses to gain both more profits and a stronger market presence.
“The bottle should be an ‘objet d’art’ - it’s really what makes the statement. It’s the selling point,” says Mary Ellen Lapsansky, vice president of the Fragrance Foundation, the US-based organisation that promotes and educates consumers about perfume use. Major perfume houses pay special attention to how they design the perfume bottle, although Lapsansky admits very few dare to be too different in their presentation.
She points to Chanel, describing it as “iconic”. By never changing its bottle design, Chanel has built a brand, but also a good reputation for quality fragrance, says Lapsansky. Other perfume houses renowned for their luxury perfume bottles include Christian Dior, Guerlain and Caron.
Customers don’t just pay for the perfume inside but also for the attractive bottle, since the two go hand in hand, says Lapsansky. She adds, however, that perfume houses cannot boost the price of the scent solely based on the bottle – other factors such as material and advertising also matter. “Some houses have a great bottle but put a plastic cap on that does not look luxurious,” says Lapsansky.
Today almost all caps for fragrance are made out of plastic, says Jonathan Cohen, global market manager at DuPont, a global manufacturer of resins for a variety of packaging applications. DuPont’s Surlyn technology, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, is a lighter, unbreakable polymer that still offers a glass-like sparkle and transparency. The polymer is resistant to the ingredients of the fragrance and does not alter the nature of the scent.
Some of the most popular perfumes sporting Surlyn caps are Obsession by Calvin Klein, L’Aigle by Lalique, Trésor by Lancôme and Crystal Noir by Versace. “Perfume houses turn to Surlyn because of lower costs but also because of more design freedom,” says Cohen. The polymer is easy to mould, allowing designers to attract new customers by experimenting with complex shapes and decorations, something that is very difficult to obtain with glass, he explains. “Perfume packaging will continue to have a more differentiated design to reflect luxury, as new brands will try to get access to the market by showing diversity.” Although only caps are made out of Surlyn at this point, the technology could be used to create the entire bottle in a couple of years. This would allow for much more moulding flexibility and for decorations both inside and outside the bottle. It would also lead to the development of more on-the-go luxury, as the bottle would be unbreakable, lighter and safer to transport. Based on the results of a focus group organised by DuPont, Cohen says customers would be willing to pay more money to have both the luxury and the convenience.
Nina Ricci, the French perfume house created in 1946, is using Surlyn technology for its caps. The way the cap is created and the sound it makes when you take it out are important aspects of a luxury perfume bottle presentation, says Margerie Barbes-Petit, Nina Ricci perfume brand director in Paris. The weight and feel of the glass bottle also matter. “It’s important that all senses are involved,” she says. “From a psychological point of view glass will still be considered more noble than plastic.”
Barbes-Petit describes Nina Ricci as a romantic brand that always tries to tell a story through its perfume bottles: “The success of a new perfume is very much linked to the originality of the new story you bring out.” L’Air du Temps, originally launched in 1948 in the post World War II era, features two doves on the bottle cap, representing a message of peace and hope, says Barbes-Petit.
The value and price of perfume bottles increases during special edition launches. This winter Nina Ricci released its Nina apple-shaped bottle in metallic pink featuring Swarovski crystals. During limited editions, only 1,000 pieces are made for global distribution and they can sell for up to ten times as much as the regular edition price, says Barbes-Petit. In 2006, David Rago Auctions established a new world record by selling the oyster-shell-shaped Lalique perfume bottle Trésor de la Mer for US$216,000. Luxury perfume bottles are worth a lot of money, and they only increase in value over time. Perfume bottles from a few decades ago (the 1920s or 30s, for example) are highly cherished by perfume bottle collectors and can sell for thousands of dollars.
Most collectors don’t care whether the bottles still carry the original scent, says Helen Farnsworth, archivist at the International Perfume Bottle Association (IPBA). However, these bottles are worth even more money if the fragrance is still inside and the box has not been opened, she says. A collector herself, Farnsworth, who owns more than 10,000 bottles, said it’s not easy to point at what makes a bottle collectable – it can be the look of the bottle, the designer, the brand or the smell. “There’s an endless variety of factors and it’s very subjective,” she explains. In May, the IPBA will hold a convention in the Washington DC area, where it will auction off a Lalique perfume from the 1920s which has never been taken out of its box. An X-ray showing the perfume inside will be displayed next to the box. ”I guarantee you the collector who buys it won’t open it,” laughs Farnsworth.