Jamie Matusow, Marc Rosen and Maximillian

World-renowned perfume bottle designer Marc Rosen’s recently released Glamour Icons pays an almost lyrical tribute, a love story of sorts, to the fragrance industry and its creative and luxurious packaging to which he has devoted much of his life.

Along the way, he revitalized the Elizabeth Arden business, worked with some of the greatest icons in the fashion and beauty world, married his most famous and glamorous client, commandeered suppliers to execute a number of innovative bottle designs and won a record seven FiFis.

But the book is not exclusively about Rosen’s career—though his memories and experiences make for fabulous backstories. He has also reached into his archives to present some of the 20th century’s most iconic and luxurious fragrance bottles, which he refers to as “small pieces of glass architecture,” and discusses how they define the various decades. The intent behind Glamour Icons, above all else, says Marc, “is to inspire the fragrance industry to re-invent a glamour that’s intrinsic to today’s business: the glamour of the bottles, the glamour of the launches and the glamour of the FiFis.” He says in the book: “I believe that we have to reinvent glamour for a new generation. We can no longer afford the cheap, disposable culture that results in a glut of poorly made, worthless consumer goods that are ready for landfill almost as soon as they are produced.”

In 200+ pages, Marc has united his gift for storytelling with his passion for luxurious packaging in what he says was “the greatest collaboration of my career.”

First Look

Recently Marc offered me a most gracious invitation to visit with him and take a look at the sole copy of his beautifully designed and photographed hardcover book—hot off the press.

As we sat on the wide breezy veranda of his 19th century country estate just northwest of New York City, surrounded by perfectly placed Victorian white wicker furniture and antique blue and white Chinese porcelains, Marc’s passion for design detail and just the right touches could not be overlooked. In fact, style and glamour have been inherent to his life, he says, since at the tender age of 8, he delighted in his first trip to New York City’s famed automat, where he couldn’t stop himself from running around pressing buttons on the highly crafted food-dispensing doors in the opulent Art Deco eatery.

But while he lives in an antique home and has a passion for 19th and 20th century decor, he says his “packaging designs have always gravitated to the contemporary side.” His award-winning flacons for KL and Shanghai are clear examples.

The book is divided into three parts, with a preface and forward from style and glamour devotees Fleur Cowles (the [now] late editor of Flair, the mid-century visionary style magazine) and Harold Koda (curator of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art), and a conversation with Hamish Bowles (Vogue’s editor-at-large).

The first part of the book covers Marc’s career from his start as a young packaging designer at Revlon to the opening of his own packaging design firm, including nerve-wracking moments with Charles Revson, his “life-changing” move to Arden, his collaboration with Kaiser Karl Lagerfeld, the powerful influence of the Fendi sisters, and the thrill of being the first packaging designer to launch his own fragrance—and win a FiFi for it to boot!

In the next section, Marc shares details of his personal design approach, with sketches and photos of prototypes and models.

The remainder of the volume takes readers on a thrilling visual journey through the decades of the 20th and 21st centuries by way of a collection of gorgeous fragrance bottles that defined each decade, from René Lalique’s elaborate Belle Époque designs for Coty in 1910, to the modern simplicity and weightiness of Calvin Klein’s Beauty in 2010.

Like me, you’ll probably find it difficult to choose a favorite, though I have to admit I’ll be searching antique stores for a 1913 bottle ofVoltigy in an exquisite flacon colored and shaped like a butterfly.

In my opinion, this heartfelt “history of fragrance bottle design” with its many delightful anecdotes and stunning photographs, is a must-have addition to the library of all who love design, fragrance, style and beauty—and who strive to keep luxury packaging and the allure of fragrance alive.

Even better, all proceeds from the sale of the book benefit The Marc Rosen Scholarship and Education Fund for Packaging Design at Pratt Institute where Marc teaches the only course available worldwide on fragrance packaging.

More info: www.amazon.com/Glamour-Icons-Perfume-Bottle-Design/dp/1851496602