Leather-look package shines for mens' fragrance

Parfums Lolita Lempicka is bringing out a limited-edition men's fragrance, Lolita Lempicka Au Masculin, with help from Alcan Packaging Beauty-Challes (www.alcan.com), in France. The sophisticated, complex container design uses what Alcan says is fabric over molding, a technique tried for the first time at an Alcan Packaging Beauty site. Selected by Parfums Lolita Lempicka, the thick, dark green imitation leather fabric is cut out and placed in a mold so that it fits perfectly with the container's injection-molded plastic components. Front and rear half-shells, both in polypropylene, are made from this model. After the shells are molded, they emerge clad in "leather," which hugs their raised-leaf patterns. Three pad-printing runs on the front half of the shell give lettering and leaf edges a subtle bronze hue. A single print run is needed to achieve the effect on the rear half-shell. The "velvet gunmetal" galvanized PP top and bottom join the two half-shells together.

Inside, a blow-molded bottle containing the perfume is held by foam and is capped with a pump, a pushbutton and an actuator cover also galvanized in velvet gunmetal. The bottle is filled in Challes' full-service facility. Once filled, the bottle is assembled on-site. Alcan says a challenge in making the part lies not only in selecting and cutting out the fabric, but also in fastening it to the inside of the mold so that it adheres fully and perfectly to the plastic components. The raised pattern on the shell has no sharp angles. The fragrance made its debut in the market in the fall of 2006.