Fragrance Bottles: McGraw by Tim McGraw
McGraw by Tim McGraw, designed by Kenneth Hirst, conveys the musician’s country-western style. The bottle’s shoulders are covered with a faux-leather piece that is meant to resemble the curved brim of McGraw’s brown leather cowboy hat.
“Achieving the faux-leather finish on the glass was a challenge,” says Nirav Mehta, director, packaging concept development, Coty Beauty North America. The goal was to create the look and feel of leather, while keeping budget restraints in mind, since the fragrance has a low price point for the mass market. The design goal was met by using soft-touch polypropylene (PP) for the shoulder covering.
Qualipac produced the faux-leather piece, along with the cap. “Technology now allows us to create different textures using one material, without having to do any secondary processes. There is a braided pattern on the metal cap and an amazing texture on the plastic shoulder piece, which both add another dimension and a tactile quality to the bottle,” says Eric Vanin, vice president of sales, Qualipac.
The pattern on the PP covering was modeled after the markings on a swatch of real leather. “We used a special photo-chemical process to etch the image of the real leather onto the interior of the mold,” says Mehta. “The PP pieces were then assembled on a groove in the glass shoulder and held in place by the pump collar.”
Vitro Packaging (Huntington Station, NY) produced the glass bottle, and Rexam Dispensing Systems supplied the pump. A replica of a guitar pick was embossed on the base of the glass bottle.
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