During 2009, Holmes & Marchant was approached with a rather unusual brief: to simultaneously design a brand new product and redesign an old one. The client was Grossmith—a perfume brand that had been founded in 1835 and enjoyed almost two centuries of success, but that had closed down in the mid 1980s.

Holmes & Marchant was brought in to redesign and re-launch the Hasu-no-Hana, Phul-Nana and Shem-el-Nessim fragrances  for the Grossmith brand, which had very recently been brought back into family ownership by Simon Brooke, great-great grandson of founder John Grossmith.

The materials they had for inspiration were an original bottle mould for a Baccarat crystal bottle, used in the Grossmith range around 1919; as well as old photographs, advertising and bottles from the brand’s archive. There would be two ranges at launch: the three Limited Edition launch fragrances available in Baccarat crystal bottles, and the same scents in a range of newly designed glass bottles.

The glass bottles would be a completely new design, while the Baccarat bottles would be based on original moulds. Grossmith historically used bright colours—predominantly gold, regal blue and white—on packaging to convey the Middle/Far Eastern origins of its ingredients.

The Baccarat range that resulted replaced the labels that had once covered the front with a fine etched gold inlay pattern, which was replicated on the presentation box lining too—a reusable piece of identifiable brand design that could be taken into future products. The resulting glass bottle was ‘reeded’, creating a vintage, handcrafted look, while its oval footprint follows the shape of the original Grossmith ‘standard’ bottle. The brand logo and monogram were inspired by typography found on old fragrance cards and helped to keep the ‘art deco’ feel of the old bottles.

Grossmith launched on time for Christmas 2009. The designs have been incredibly successful throughout Great Britain, with distribution now extending across Europe and into the Middle East.