Packaging
Sleever International – Viktor&Rolf sign an eye-catching limited series for Piper Heidsieck
Tuesday 12. February 2008 - The House of Piper Heidsieck has called upon designers Viktor&Rolf, reputed for their unique style in the fashion world, to reinvent the Rosé Sauvage vintage for a very exclusive edition. They have produced a stunning version, in which the famous bottle of champagne is literally turned "upside down" to make head spins during the 2007 end of year festivities.
A new look at champagne rites
“Faced with the challenge of inventing something new based on something eternal, the only solution was to upturn the proportions.” As in their Milan boutique, the Dutch design duet opted for an “upside-down” look for this limited Piper Heidseick edition aimed at a highly international clientele and only available from a few exclusive outlets hand-selected in twelve countries, of the likes of Colette in Paris and Harvey Nichols in London. The Rosé Sauvage bottle becomes a phial. The inverted flute of champagne becomes a goblet. The base of the bottle, now at the top, which reproduces the proportions of the legendary champagne cork and its wire cage and foil, is enhanced with a pink and black gold ribbon stamped with the Piper logo. The secret? A tightly-fitting sleeve slipped over the preformed plastic shell that encases the bottle, all of which enhanced by classic labels in pure champagne tradition. To achieve this highly innovative result, only the solution proposed by Sleever International was capable of providing the outstanding quality of finish required by Piper-Heidsieck and Viktor&Rolf.
A sleeve unique in the world
The group proposed using a Thermosleeve whose shrinkage performances maintain the plastic shell in place and provide clean edges around the top of the bottle. It is made out of a mono-oriented OPS film developed by Sleever Technologies (reference SI-OPS-TF-095/XB), selected for its high-quality finish to the touch, capacity to highlight the delicate “twists” of the wire cage, but also its ability to adapt to the requirements of two materials (glass and plastic). Printed using 3-color gravure printing, it features white to set off the bright colors, a shiny gold and a highly brilliant black. Its intrinsic qualities are further combined with very high precision positioning to ensure that the Piper-Heidseick lettering was perfectly placed in relation to the twisted “wire cage”. Another technical challenge involved flawless mastery of the shrinkage to guarantee the horizontal position of the Viktor&Rolf logo and the absence of impact of the raised twists on the gold print. This was achieved using Powerskinner technology at Sleever Internationals Epernay site, devoted entirely to customized Sleever solutions for champagne wines.
Available since early November from an exclusive selection of retail outlets, including the amazing Viktor&Rolf flagship store in Milan, Piper-Heidsiecks limited Rosé Sauvage edition has already been widely acclaimed by some of the planets most avant-garde trend-spotting magazines.