The square bottle, adorned with a crisp white label, epitomizes refined elegance and minimalism, transcending into a timeless emblem of sophistication. In a simple move, Coco Chanel defied the ornate, overly embellished bottles of her time, rendering them antiquated. This reshaped the landscape of perfume design, establishing a modern and essential aesthetic in this field as well. This perfume bottle is renowned for its beveled corners and a diamond-like geometric, which was apparently strongly desired by Coco Chanel to echo the layout of Paris’s Place Vendôme – cherished by the designer for its illustrious jewelry boutiques. Since 1954, this iconic falcon has been part of the permanent collection of MoMA in New York.

The bottle containing this sensual, hypnotic, and voluptuous perfume is inspired by the Taj Mahal, a mausoleum nesteld in the Shalimar Gardens in Agra, India, to commemorate a woman madly loved by the emperor. Crafted by Jacques Guerlain, the fragrance gets its name – “temple of love” – from those very gardens, and the bottle design, with its arabesques, is inspired by the marvelous fountains of Shalimar whose gushing waters are echoed by the shape of the fan-shaped cap. Presented to the public at the 1925 Decorative Arts Exhibition in Paris, Shalimar gained widespread acclaim after a successful introduction on the ocean liner Normandie during a voyage to New York by Raymond Guerlain, Jacques’s cousin, and his wife, marking its premiere in the United States.

Elsa Schiaparelli, renowned for her unconventional creations like lobster-adorned evening gowns and shoe-hats, also introduced the world to the color Shocking Pink. This vivid hue made its debut alongside her 1937 fragrance, Shocking de Schiaparelli. Described as “luminous, impossible, brazen, inappropriate, enlivening, like all the light and birds and fish in the world put together,” this color had to mirror the essence of the perfume that was meant to evoke lust, decadence, glamour, and exoticism. All this was encased in a bottle-torso designed by surrealist artist Leonor Fini inspired directly by the silhouette of Mae West, one of Schiaparelli’s regular clients. The mannequin-shaped bottle, embellished with tiny colored glass flowers adorning its neck, was meticulously crafted from Bohemian glass.

Created by Elsa Schiaparelli to celebrate the end of World War II, this fragrance is most remembered for its bottle designed by none other than the great Salvador Dali and produced in only 2,000 units by Baccarat. Designed as a tribute to King Louis XIV, the bottle was presented in a large metal shell. The stopper represents a sun and surmounts a wave-battered rock. Flying birds, drawn within the sun disc, form a trompe-l’oeil face. This surreal vessel encapsulated a delightful, enduring scent, albeit one that, regrettably, has not made it to the present day.

Originally designed by Spanish sculptor Joan Rebull, the L’air du temps perfume bottle – the first to be made in crystal – had a sun and a dove engraved on the cap. It wasn’t until 1951 that the current bottle, designed by Nina Ricci herself and Marc Lalique, was adopted: the new design depicted two doves in flight on a crystal cloud on the cap. At a time when the world was struggling to overcome the tragedy of World War II, this imagery was meant to be an invitation to peace and love. Recently Philippe Starck revisited the Deux Colombes bottle, merging the two doves into a single element.

In ancient Japan, samurai carried a small container called an inrô on their belts, in which they kept medicines, herbs, and opium used to alleviate the pains of combat. It is this small traditional container that inspired Pierre Dinand’s design for Yves Saint Laurent’s perfume named, not by chance, Opium. This provocative and sensual fragrance rekindles the allure of oriental scents popular in the 1920s and 1930s, blending resins and spices that the that the couturier calls “fire flowers.” Both the bottle and the fragrance defy convention: crafted from a blend of plastic and glass, the container departs from transparency, embracing a striking blood-red hue reminiscent of oriental lacquer.

“Perfume is the poison of the heart”: with this was the slogan Dior launched one of its most beloved and mysterious perfumes in 1985. The Poison bottle, with its apple shape wrapped in a toxic purple hue, quickly became an icon of the 1980s. Véronique Monod’s design evokes the forbidden fruit, a symbol of temptation: an apple carved in a dark amethyst that retains the fruit’s roundness, warmth, and sensuality. This bottle, with its profound reflections, guards the precious elixir from prying gazes, promising a bewitching olfactory journey.

A grenade-shaped bottle: Viktor & Rolf’s choice for their fragrance, Flowerbomb, is indeed “explosive.” So bold that it made Oslo airport’s list of restricted beauty items for security reasons. Yet, as the name suggests, it’s more of an explosion of flowers – a blend of floral and plant essences. This scent brings sensationalism to the world of fragrances, promising women an extraordinary and deflagrating olfactory experience. The fragrance’s soft pink hue adds a touch of precious romance, although the black seal with the V&R logo, ready to be unlocked, makes this bottle truly resemble the shape of a bomb. 

A bottle cut like a jewel, encased in gold like a diamond. This precious talisman, in its amethyst hue, emanates a resolute and embracing radiance, as if it hails from somewhere else. It exudes an aura reminiscent of creatures found in science fiction sagas like Star Trek or Star Wars. Alien by Thierry Mugler encapsulates a precious essence crafted by French perfumers Dominique Ropion and Laurent Bruyère within a container radiating mysterious and captivating purplish reflections. This bottle holds the promise of an unparalleled and astonishing olfactory journey.

The fragrance created for Kenzo by perfumer Aurélien Guichards has no name. Its “essence” lies entirely within the container crafted by Israeli designer Ron Arad: sculpted from zamac, a remarkably pliable steel alloy, its intricate ergonomic form draws inspiration from the concept of infinity. It’s not meant to stand upright on a shelf but to nestle in the palm, requiring a distinctive gesture guided by the thumb instead of the index finger to release the fragrance, diverging from the norm of many other perfume containers. Technological innovation and aesthetic unscrupulousness make the packaging the absolute star of this bottle, produced in an ultra-limited series and immediately welcomed at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and MoMA in New York.

At first glance, it bears an uncanny resemblance to an everyday all-purpose degreaser, yet within lies a luxurious and delicate fragrance that celebrates femininity in its entirety. The provocation is evident – both ironic and playful – a haute couture essence encased within a household cleaning container. Spearheaded by Jeremy Scott, Moschino’s creative director renowned for his provocations and extravagance, this project pushes boundaries. Supermodel Linda Evangelista lent her face for the advertising campaign, her beauty and arresting expression embodying the fusion of two contrasting female archetypes: the desperate housewife and the femme fatale.

The Portraits collection by London-based brand Penhaligon’s is a tribute to the English spirit suspended between humor, provocation, and self-mockery. This fiction-like olfactory narrative uses packaging to tie various scents to as many characters from the British aristocracy. Crafted by Icelandic artist Kristjana Williams, it weaves together fragments of Victorian engravings and vibrant contemporary illustrations, conjuring magical landscapes teeming with impossible exotic creatures. The chrome caps bear the characteristic animal heads. In The Tragedy of Lord George, the bottle is adorned with a gold-plated cap fashioned after the head of a deer, symbolizing strength, courage, and power.

Classic and elegant, the bottle that holds this Valentino perfume draws inspiration from and honors Roman architecture. Its small pyramidal shape, which had already inspired the iconic Rockstud, embellishes every side of the bottle. This distinctive packaging, with the Maison’s emblem and a striking contrast between black leather and the vivid pink hue of the contents, connotes a fragrance that, rooted in Rome’s essence and universal allure, aspires to conquer the whole world.

“The tempting amphora”: that’s what Dior called the original flacon designed in 1999 by Hervé van der Straeten and conceived to reflect the seductive nature of the J’adore perfume it was to contain. The jewel-like bottle boasted soft sensual curves, crowned by a Masai necklace at the top of the amphora, and featured a pearl-shaped applicator that released just the right amount of perfume, without waste, exactly where the woman desires. In 2021, Dior asked designer India Mahdavi to revisit that iconic bottle. Her vision involved wrapping the amphora-shaped vessel with a spiral of pure gold, creating a hypnotic, infinite movement. Each piece was crafted by a historic master glassmaker in Murano, in an ultra-limited series of 1,000 unique and numbered pieces.

The flask created by Frank Gehry is a truly unique and fascinating sculptural and ethereal work of art. Gehry – whose primary source of inspiration has always been nature – designed a dynamic shape that seems to defy the laws of physics. The stopper, shaped by crumpling a sheet of aluminum, takes on the appearance of a chimeric flower. “I wanted to approach the project from a sculptural point of view,” Gehry, 94, explains, “to bring something different to perfume. It’s not a finished geometric form; it’s just movement. Visual movement with the added interest of ephemerality.” Like a flame-jewel, the silvery cap seems to be disheveled by the breeze, while the shape of the bottle aims to evoke the idea of a transparent sail. This design aims to trigger an imaginative and sensory journey that begins with sight, passes through smell, and finally settles with contact with the skin.