A lovely 4+ minute film on the amazing bottle designer Pierre Dinand. Do find time to give it a watch if you can. You can find out more about Dinand (including a complete list of his bottle designs) at his website.
A retrospective featuring 30 of Dinand's favorite bottle designs will run from 30 March through 4 April at Liberty London's Alternative Fragrance Festival, where Dinand will also be talking with Jan Ahlgren of Vilhelm Parfumerie at 11 am on 1 April.
He’s one of the great bottle designers: he did the instant classic Alfred Sung and then its genius reinterpretation (the same bottle but artistically melted, basically) for Encore, the early Krizia bottles, the first Azzaro bottles (including that amazing sunburst bottle for Azzaro 9)….
I love the way he threw shade at Elsa Schiaparelli by saying she had “two nasty dogs — like her”.
Yes, that cracked me up!
Ditto!
Worthwhile! If there were a longer, uncut version I’d watch that, too. Makes me wonder: How often is the bottle the best thing about the fragrance?
I would too!
I must be in the minority but there are scents that I’ve bought more for the bottle than the contents, and others that I wouldn’t even deign to sniff because the bottle displeased me. The fragrance itself is the heart and soul of perfumery, but packaging matters, too.
Wow! Thank you for posting this, Robin. I loved everything about it from start to finish, and I too would watch a longer, uncut version.
So glad you liked it!
And I will take this opportunity to thank whomever posted about the Muscle Shoals documentary in the scent of the day comments. I can’t remember who it was or even when it was, but my husband and I finished it last night and both agreed we would have watched with rapt attention if it was twice as long.
Ooh! I just watched the Muscle Shoals trailer and am looking forward to watching that too!
It is fantastic. I have a lovely Muscle Shoals compilation CD that I bought years ago — it made me do a little research, so had heard of the Swampers, but still, did not know much of what was in the documentary. So much of the music I love came out of those studios, and so much of the excellence of that music was due to the studio musicians and not the bands who put their names on the albums. I liken it to the discovery that Alberto Morillas and Harry Fremont made your CK One and Calvin Klein had little to do with it.
Plus, so well done! I do wish it had been longer, they spent almost no time on the horn section, Mavis Staples, etc etc.
Thanks again! I’m really looking forward to it!
Hi Robin – think that was me on Aretha’s (and my!) birthday. So pleased you liked it! Everyone I know who’s watched it has loved it. If you haven’t seen it yet I would also recommend ‘The Wrecking Crew’ a group of top LA session musicians in the 60s and 70s. Lastly, Eight Days a Week – the Beatles Touring Years. Great footage. They were so young. That should keep all the music lovers busy over the weekend!
That was a great clip – all those iconic bottle designs. I’d like that chair he’s sitting in!
Yes — it was you, thank you so much! I have already seen The Wrecking Crew and loved that one too, although despite the fascinating story (and music), it was not nearly so well made (or edited) as Muscle Shoals.
Will look for Eight Days a Week!
You’re welcome! There sure are some great docs out there to enjoy!
Ecstasy! For bottle aficionados, this was such a treat! Monsieur Dinand certainly speaks English well. I read the whole list of bottles he designed and was pleased to see Vicky Tiel and Isadora amongst them.
This is great. Friday project…favourite bottle design in your collectiom