Viktor & Rolf's Pretty Pretties

Jeremy Danté drew my attention to this ad for Viktor & Rolf's fragrance Eau Mega. But I'm only posting it because it's an excuse to showcase an older piece for V&R's first perfume, Flowerbomb:


The Flowerbomb ad ran through 2008, mostly on the back of women's fashion mags. Something about it compels you to stare, and I suspect it has to do with the colours and textures brought together: that cat-eyed woman with her head wrapped in a gauzy flower-shaped veil, the blushing hue trapped in an angular perfume bottle, V&R's wax seal coupled with a ribbon whose little nibs you can almost feel under your fingers, laced around a porcelain frame...

Then there's that arresting choice of pink, submissive against hard black logo work. It's only by slight changes in shade that you even know where it begins and ends.

Eau Mega's got enough of the same nuances to maintain fidelity to the foundation set by Flowerbomb: flowing gauze, wind-swept gamine, interesting use of soft versus hard texture (you almost feel the cold coiny metal of the V&R seal!) and shadowy contrast that forces yielding yellow into hard angular frames -- brought to stunning relief by that soft kiss of blue.

This under-the-radar attention to detail culminates in a simplicity that draws long gazes and invites curiosity: a recipe, I'm sure, for Viktor & Rolf's intended clientèle.