Christian Louboutin launches his first perfume range

Hot on its heels came his lipsticks - and the stiletto-styled packing once again ensured these lipsticks were eye candy.

As iconic shoemaker Christian Louboutin launches his first perfume range, a look at how his collaboration with British architect Thomas Heatherwick ensured that the bottles are collectors' items
If you judge a book by its cover, then you judge a perfume by its bottle. Beautifully designed perfume bottles are not a new concept. Since the 1920's, fashion houses have worked with esteemed companies (such as Baccarat, among others) to ensure that their bottle is one that women will want to decorate their dressing tables with. But when shoe maestro Christian Louboutin announced he was going to join the perfume industry, you knew his bottles were going to be something special. The man who gave us the iconic red soles started his eponymous shoe company in 1991 in Paris. But it was only two years ago that he started to dip into the world of cosmetics with nail polishes - and his barb-topped bottles, inspired by the stiletto, made sure they were a talking point not only in the beauty industry, but in the design world too.
Hot on its heels came his lipsticks - and the stiletto-styled packing once again ensured these lipsticks were eye candy. A stiletto-inspired perfume bottle, however, might not have made the same impact, as the shoe has already been an inspiration for various other perfume bottles. That's why, when the beauty industry heard that Louboutin was to launch his own perfumes, it was most curious to know what the bottle would look like.
That question was answered when the range finally hit stores last week. True to form, Louboutin - known to be a designer who only does things in style - launched not one, but three fragrances. And just like his shoes appeal to a range of women, his three signature scents will ensure that all Louboutin girls find the correct perfume for their personality. The intimate and compelling Bikini Questa is fragranced with jasmine and tuberose. It comes in a deep amber and warm gold ombré bottle, and a single glance at it makes you think of hot summer nights. Tornade Blonde is a sweet and feminine blend of red rose, violet and cassis and its garnet-to-light gold ombré coloured bottle is light and feminine. Trouble in Heaven is all about opulence, taking in iris, patchouli, tonka absolut and amber and comes fittingly in a bottle that conjures up the colour of royalty - purple and gold.
These are well-crafted perfumes - from bottle to scent. Says Louboutin, "I want you to experience the fragrance in the same way as you experience a piano note being played. So there is the 'ping', the first burst of the scent like the striking of the piano key, followed by a beautiful resonance as the note echoes its sound."
The bottles, like so many iconic designs in fashion, are a collaboration between Louboutin and British architect Thomas Heatherwick, famous for designing the Olympic cauldron for the London 2012 Olympics. Now, his studio has been able to turn Louboutin's vision of "the liquid is alive" into a bottle. They met at a Christmas party, around the time that Louboutin was starting work on his fragrances. There was an instant spark, although Heatherwick admits that, while he knew of the shoe designer's work, he was doubtful if Louboutin really knew about his studio's work. He says, "I enjoyed speaking with someone who is focused on creativity, craftsmanship, and who has created a company. I suppose I could feel that Christian was really open about how he might - in a world where there are so many perfumes - find an angle that could be particular to his vision. Intellectually, that was very interesting to me."
And the first thing Heatherwick did was to pay a visit to London's Victoria and Albert Museum's Glass Gallery. "We immersed ourselves in a room full of glass. It was great to get an instinct what a gallery like that can give you. That was a good starting point for discussion. The studio did a project with glass blowing masters in Murano, Venice, and spent time seeing the differences between glass that looks bullied and glass that is moved freely and the subtle differences you get from that. We knew that you couldn't fight glass. This gave us a clue. We wanted the bottle to be rooted in a tradition of perfume - to come from there, but to have another voice."
The bottles are objets d'art - glass sculptures that are tactile and play with lights, yet reveal intense colour. And, of course, there is innovation. "Typically, a fragrance bottle is a mutated single volume with a pretty hat on the top. You shape that bottle and you get a fancy lid. Here, we are integrating the lid and the glass together into one entity. The craftsmanship of the glass moulding is very specific."
Despite the sharp edges and twisted look of the bottles, they are also practical - as they are made to fit into the palm of your hand. Explains Heatherwick, "We wanted to create something that is nice to hold. By turning the split inside out, the ridges are actually the size of your fingers. It felt like something that would be enjoyable to hold."
But then it is not surprising that Louboutin has thought about how the bottle design needs to be about form, finesse, functionality and evoking emotion - his father was a cabinet maker, so it is natural that his understanding of architecture goes beyond the world of shoes.
sujata@khaleejtimes.com

• Style In The City