Italian fashion house Prada is taking the art of fragrance packaging to a new level this month with the debut of Atelier Prada. Miuccia Prada has reimagined her signature L’Homme and La Femme fragrance bottles and has designed cuffs that wrap around the bottle giving them a fashionable twist.
She’s designed a trio of Prada prints that customize the women’s white La Femme bottle – each taken from the Prada runway in Milan. The cuffs have a 1950s inspiration that are instantly identifiable as Prada. The company was established in 1913 by Mario Prada and his brother Martino as a leather goods shop.
Miuccia, the granddaughter, joined the company in 1970 eventually taking over from her mother in 1978. Her first creations were waterproof backpacks out of Pocone. She’s since incorporated her unique artistic eye and vision to ready-to-wear, accessories and fragrance and built a global empire with husband Patrizio Bertelli.
We’d be trippin’ if we claimed we never once purchased a product solely based on aesthetics or walked straight past one because its outfitted design didn’t tickle our fancy. Much like personal preferences on lipsticks and hair dos, a trademark scent is just as significant (if not more so) when it comes to expressing your personality – which in turn, establishes your public identity.
Combining the two – fragrance and custom packaging – are the smarties at Prada, brewing olfactory and design mojo in a new creative lab, Atelier Prada.
Luring beauty nerds and fragrance whiz kids to get handsy, the perfume flacons are customisable with veritable Pradarama signatute graphic patterns, plucked straight from Prada’s much-loved fashion department. Those with a memory of a raven will recognise Hawaii, a ’40s Hawaiian floral from the men’s spring/summer 2014 show, and maybe even Hypnotic, a geometric design first produced for Prada’s fall/winter 1996 women’s collection. Further personalisation on the perfume bottles welcome, à la retro stickers and initials.
The men’s cuffs come in three graphic patterns that illustrate different plays on black and navy. These are the same style of prints that appear on Prada men’s sport shirts and jackets.
Unless you intend on going home with an empty bottle, they promising a rich decorative and olfactory addition to any vanity table. We may be about that #shelfie life, but what’s inside counts too. The cuff is free with any purchase of L’Homme or La Femme 100 ml (which also includes the Intense and L’Eau versions).
See you, and your custom Prada perfume, on Instagram.
Yakymour 