Clearly Speaking

Written by Marc Rosen, Marc Rosen Associates

After years of colored perfumery glass, black makeup components and frosted skin-care containers, “clear” is making a big comeback. After a plethora of new decorating screening techniques, finishes, and plastic accessories, less actually seems to be more.

Perhaps it’s a reaction to the “more is more” packaging emphasis of the last decade, or maybe due to budget constraints or, hopefully, an “homage” to clean lines, good taste and quality. Whatever the reason, it is clear that naked, clear primaries are in view.

Chanel has always seen clearly. All of its fragrance bottles are clear. Now its newest skin care line, Sublimage, is not only clear, but in clear glass. Très bien!

And speaking of clear glass, Lanc?me’s La Vie est Belle is just about the heaviest and clearest fragrance bottle to date.

The consumer seems to have a new fascination with seeing through beautiful objects, i.e., the new home decorating attraction to mid-century modern Lucite furniture. Fashion has followed with Lucite jewelry, eyeglass frames, shoe heels and handbag handles. All are clean, simple and well designed, with no pretenses. In our cosmetics world, clear packaging sends a subliminal message that the efficacy of the product is as transparent as the package itself.

At the high end, undecorated means quality; Bulgari Man and its Satin Noir are prime examples. Cartier, not to be outdone, has Baiser Vole and its new Declaration D’un Soir. Although he thinks mainly black for his fragrance packaging, Tom Ford thinks clearly for his new nail lacquer line toped with bronze-colored caps.

Perfumery glass manufacturer SGD’s Peter Acerra agrees that undecorated glass is definitely in vogue these days. He tells us, “The U.S. fragrance/cosmetic glass packaging market is seeing a return to highly stylized bottles that are using various alternative design strategies to mark a point of difference, using attached accessories like charms or decorative bands to enhance and create a point of difference. The bottles we have been producing and that are currently in development are also incorporating highly stylized facets as well as art deco motifs.”

Clearly speaking, as designers and marketers, we need to open our eyes to a world where transparency speaks volumes to the consumer.