PARIS – Don’t call it mellow yellow. “Safran Impérial,” or imperial saffron in English, is the official name for the bright ochre shade of Louis Vuitton’s new packaging.
It started arriving over the weekend in tandem with a new rolling suitcase designed by Marc Newson that will be carried in 130 doors. The packaging should be present in the 180 locations that will carry Vuitton’s new perfumes, debuting in early September, and then roll out to all 450 stores worldwide, according to Michael Burke, chairman and chief executive officer of the leather goods giant.
“We don’t want the packaging to be fashionable. It’s supposed to have quite a long life cycle,” he said. “In most cases, brand colors play off of black and white. We wanted to be different.”
The brighter shade, with boxes and bags set off with blue ribbon wrapping and handles, replaces the chocolate brown packaging that has been synonymous with Vuitton since 2003. Burke allowed that the brown, while chic, was “a tad masculine” and not as joyful as the new color scheme.
He noted that the saffron shade has been woven throughout Vuitton’s history and “kept popping up.” For example, it features on a vintage trunk known as the Citroën, commissioned
Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Read More...