After Chanel Factory 5 this summer, the French luxury maison is continuing to celebrate 100 years of the Chanel N°5 fragrance with the launch of its first advent calendar.
For its first foray into the world of advent calendars, Chanel modeled the shape on that of its renowned Chanel N°5 fragrance, which is fêting its centennial this year. Standing 60cm high and 40cm wide, the monomaterial advent calendar weighs in at just 500g thanks to Knoll Packaging’s Ecoform pulp material (60% bamboo and 40% bagasse fibers), the same that was used for the Chanel N°5 limited-edition blister pack. The brand selected the material for its sustainability credentials, design qualities and forming ability.
“For this project -- majestic in its shape, design and finishes -- we really pushed the limits of what tooling can do in terms of format and depth,” Florence Dancoisne, General Manager Europe Knoll Packaging tells Luxe Packaging Insight. “The format is atypical for this type of material; to date we have used it for platforms and packs adjusted to bottle shapes, but to our knowledge, this is the first advent calendar made from pulp.”
Brand and supplier worked in close collaboration on the project, which had its fair share of technical challenges, not least due to its complex shape and large format. Comprised of two laminated layers of Ecoform for a smooth and even appearance and texture on both sides; the hinged structure’s white pulp is color matched, molded then cut. In the internal cavity, products are held in folding cartons numbered 5 through 31; the former for Chanel N°5 and the latter for the brand’s 31 rue Cambon address in Paris.
In spite of its large scale, the calendar had to remain upright when filled with products. To improve stability, four molded pulp “feet” were inserted into the carcass; they are invisible when the calendar is standing upright. The heaviest products inside are placed at the bottom to further stabilize the structure.
In terms of decoration, the white calendar sports a debossed front panel with the Chanel logo hot-stamped in black. On the “neck”, a decorative paper collar is hot-stamped in gold, while the folding cartons are printed black. Both the boxes and the Ecoform structure are FSC-certified.
While biodegradable and recyclable in paper recycling streams, the calendar is also designed for reuse.
“This project opens up new ways of using pulp in the luxury sector. We can go much further with the material in a more daring and audacious way,” concludes Dancoisne.
Advent calendarKnoll Packaging
