Uncompromising French luxury brand Lalique, found in 1888, has been known to collaborate with some of the greatest artistic minds in the design and art spaces, from Damien Hirst to Arik Levy. To see the historic Maison partner up with another renowned artist is not really much of a surprise. And yet, watching Lalique come together with none other than James Turrell is still a fascinating prospect. The legendary glassmaker and the artist known for his large-scale light projects have teamed up to create a limited-edition collection of two James Turrell perfume bottles.
Exploring themes to have defined his career to date, Turrell has sketched pieces of himself onto a larger frame informed by the very specific dome structures called Asian stupas, where Buddhist monks have been buried for years. It’s a highly conceptual project for Lalique, and an incredibly rare one as well. Turrell has only made 100 bottles in total, spread across two models.
In addition to the two perfume bottles, Turrell has also commemorated the limited edition collection with his own scents worked up in collaboration with Lalique’s perfumers. Each comes in a wooden box to match the silhouettes of the perfume bottles, with the profiles inspired by the clean, earthy Colorado Plateau.
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Each is slightly different but mostly unified by Turrell’s unconventional source of inspiration. Range Rider is all angular with clean lines, while Purple Sage is more rounded with the impression of shapes stacked on top of one another.
In terms of profile, Range Rider is the more masculine of the two, primarily centered around the combination of purple sage and old rubbed leather to reflect Turrell’s life at his ranch with his wife Kyung. Purple Sage is the version for women, according to Turrell.
Speaking to Dezeen, Turrell explained that he was “fascinated by Egypt and the stupa shapes found in Asia.
“Their architectural structure, like that of the pyramids, make them monuments of high spiritual value in which light plays an essential role.”
Given Turrell is damn near obsessed with the various ways to manipulate light through large-scale installations like Green Mountain Falls Skyspace, it makes sense that such structures would tease his imagination. It led to the artist presenting these unique prismatic bottle shapes that have been specifically designed to diffuse and diffract light to amplify the shine of the crystals used.
Essentially, they are now the most interesting and luxurious perfume bottles likely to ever exist and an easy symbol of uncompromised luxury should you be looking to spruce up that fragrance collection with some hard-won additions.
The James Turrell perfume bottles are entirely handmade with polished coloured crystals. Each was made at Lalique’s factory in Wingen-sur-Moder, Alsace and have been marked with the signatures of both Turrell and the French luxury brand.
To accentuate just how technical things got with these James Turrell perfume bottles. It’s being reported that the production process was especially tricky due to the crystal needing to be the same thickness all around. Differences in thickness – even slight – would result in different hues. And I think most people know by now just how specific and detailed Turrell can get when it comes to playing with light.
The James Turrell x Lalique collaboration follows Louis Vuitton linking up with Frank Gehry for a one-off perfume bottle. Clearly, high-concept aesthetics means a great deal to these perfume houses and if it means more commissions going to some of the greatest minds in modern design then we’re all for it.
Lalique hasn’t yet released prices for the James Turrell perfume bottles but it’s more than likely it’ll be a POA approach. You’ll need to head to the brand’s website and make an inquiry should you want to invest in this very unique design collaboration.
