(L-R): Trey Laird (Laird & Partners), Carol Alt, Veronique Gabai-Pinsky, Dr. Thomas Schutte, president, Pratt Institute

A sold-out crowd comprised of 300 industry executives representing manufacturers, fragrance houses, designers and press gathered together at a private club in Manhattan on April 30 for The Annual Pratt Institute Art of Packaging Award Gala which supports The Marc Rosen Scholarship and Education Fund for Packaging by Design.

The event—now in its 24th year—raises scholarship funds for graduating package design students at Pratt. It is the only scholarship in the world available to college students looking to pursue careers in cosmetics and package design. The black-tie event raised $350,000 this year, combining for a total of more than $3.5 million over the last two and a half decades.

Scholarship winners (L-R) Alexandra Haime, Kashfia Rahman, Vivi Feng and Kyle Calvert with Marc Rosen and Veronique Gabai Pinsky (center), at the annual Pratt Institute Art of Packaging Award Gala. (Photo: Clint Spaulding/Patrick McMullan Company).

The Art of Packaging Award, which is presented each year to a beauty/cosmetics company that has excelled in the art form, was awarded this year to the Aramis & Designer Fragrances division of The Estée Lauder Companies. Veronique Gabai Pinsky, global brand president of The Estée Lauder Companies’ Aramis & Designer Fragrances, BeautyBank, and IdeaBank divisions, accepted the award from Trey Laird, chief executive and creative officer of Laird+Partners.

Gabai Pinsky said the award was a great honor because “the opinion of the industry matters to me.”

She told the crowd, “Design is such an important part of my life. I can’t resist great design—it changes your life.”

(L-R): Felix Mayr-Harting (EVP, Fine Fragrance Global, Givaudan) Marc Rosen, David Teets (vice president fragrance development, Arcade)

Packaging is critical to fragrance sales, she said. “Repurchase is because of the juice, but the first purchase is linked to the package. The bottle is the connection to the story the fragrance wants to tell. Fragrance has to connect emotionally. In fragrance, the dream begins with the bottle.”

Gabai Pinsky praised the winning students for their hard work and offered them some advice as they begin their careers: “Stay hungry for the thrill of creativity; push the boundaries; and never compromise on quality.”

Passion, she said, is key to success. “The passion you have inside of you will be lifelong.” On a personal note, she thanked her husband and son who share her

(L-R): Marc Rosen, John Marsden (Pochet), Kevin Marshall (Marc Rosen Associates)

passion for design, and said: “My work is not work; my work is my passion.”

Gabai Pinsky applauded Marc Rosen for his unrelenting passion for fragrance packaging design and for continuing its momentum through his program at Pratt.

The four Pratt students honored during the evening were: Kyle Calvert, Vivi Feng, Alexandra Haime and Kashfia Rahman. Each winner’s fragrance package design work was on display in the lobby during the gala.

Rosen, introduced by supermodel Carole Alt, who

Marc Rosen with Mitchell Kaneff (CEO, Arkay Packaging)

presided over the ceremonies, took the podium to congratulate Gabai Pinsky. He said the “Art of Packaging” award celebrates cosmetic and fragrance packaging design as an art form, and that “tonight’s honoree, Aramis and Designer Fragrances, personifies this ethic. This recognition of the company’s long-standing commitment to beautiful and compelling packaging will celebrate its achievements. He added: “In an industry that has been my extended family for so many years, it is especially moving for me to honor a good friend. And The Aramis Fragrance Group’s creativity will continue to serve as an inspiration to our students, the designers of tomorrow. We are proud to recognize their incredible contribution.

The Pratt program in which Rosen teaches—Communications and Package Design—is ranked as one of the top graduate graphic design programs in the country by U.S. News and World Report and collegecrunch.org.

L-R): Peter Acera (SGD), Jamie Matusow (Beauty Packaging), Sheherazade Chamlou (SGD), Jay Gorga (Beauty Packaging) to the Art of Packaging.