Glamour Icons: Marc Rosen

A retrospective of iconic designs

Exhibition Website

Jul 22 2017 - Nov 5 2017

Through the creations and personal collection of the renowned packaging designer Marc Rosen, we present a major museum exhibition to celebrate commercial fragrance and cosmetic packaging as an art form. Glamour Icons is a retrospective spanning Rosen's 40-year career. His iconic designs for fragrance, make-up and skincare products were created for some of the world's most famous fashion designers, celebrities and cosmetic houses. Also on view in the exhibition are objects from Rosen's personal collection of vintage perfume bottles from the 20th century.

Among the perfume bottles on view in Glamour Icons are the award-winning Shanghai, inspired by that city's dynamic contrasts between the old and the new; KL for Karl Lagerfeld, an Art Deco fan-shaped crystal bottle that has become iconic; Il Bacio, produced for Princess Marcella Borghese and echoing Italy's rich design heritage; and Dahlia, a multi-faceted glass orb Rosen produced for actress Arlene Dahl who later became his wife. Rosen's designs for Lucia Magnani's luxury skincare products combine the qualities of jars and bottles with the vintage flavor added by the tortoise shell closures. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.

Whether or not you go, the book of the same title,  Glamour Icons: Perfume Bottle Design by Marc Rosen, is a collection of Marc Rosen's remarkable bottle designs, as well as a selection of perfume bottles from the last century that he considers iconic. The book recounts intriguing stories about working with Princess Grace of Monaco and Saudi Prince Fahad and about the experience that changed his life, working on a fragrance with Arlene Dahl, one of Hollywood's most glamorous leading ladies, and marrying her, as well.

Marc Rosen is the first perfume bottle designer to write a book about his craft, and to describe the design process from original sketches to models, to working with glass manufacturers on engineering drawings to actual production.Glamour Icons documents perfume bottles, their history, their place in society and their inspiration. Illustrated with amazing photographs by Vincent Ricardel, the book also contains Rosen's personal photographs and artwork given to him by many of the people he has worked with.

Click here to add this volume to your library Glamour Icons: Perfume Bottle Design by Marc Rosen

  • American
  • 20th Century
  • Marc Rosen

Exhibition Venues & Dates