Serge Lutens Bell Jar packaging (c. 1992–)

Serge Lutens is an iconic niche perfume house with a devoted following. The fragrance line that bears the founder’s name was born of a series of collaborations with Shiseido, a Japanese cosmetic company. After Lutens served as olfactive director for such fragrances as Nombre Noir (1982) and Féminité du Bois (1992), Shiseido opened Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido to sell his fragrance creations in a Parisian boutique.

Over the years, the specific branding of these fragrances has transformed as the Serge Lutens brand gradually replaced the Shiseido labeling. The fragrances themselves remained consistent.

There have been two major revisions to primary and secondary packaging for a total of three distinct presentations. The initial packaging featured a color scheme of ivory and two shades of violet. The details on the box and label featured Shiseido, the brand’s corporate typeface with the distinctive S glyph for any occurrences of this letter in the fragrance’s name and Palais Royal Shiseido Paris. The volume declaration uses Optima, partly with stretched proportions.

The first revision occurred c. 2000 and introduced a major redesign. The color scheme was switched to black, ivory and grey and Serge Lutens’ name appeared on the packaging along with a stylized rendering of the façade of Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido. All text on the packaging is rendered in Cochin. Again, the scaling of glyphs in the volume declaration has been adjusted; in this presentation, the horizontal scale is set at 50%.

The second revision occurred in 2010. Compared to the previous revision, this revision is less dramatic. This version also features the most typographic variety. The color scheme was adjusted and elements that had previously been ivory have been changed to a light violet. Serge Lutens is rendered in Nicolas Cochin. The fragrance name is rendered in Caslon Openface (Bitstream’s version). As there is no italic or oblique version of this typeface, the glyphs have been sheared at approximately 15 degrees to simulate italics. The rendering of the Palais Royal Shiseido has been replaced with a stylized rendering of Serge Lutens’ initials. The text below this logo reading “Paris” is rendered in Nicolas Cochin. The fragrance concentration and volume disclosure remain as they were in the previous design, rendered in Cochin with the scaling of glyphs in the volume declaration still adjusted to a horizontal scale of 50%.