thou Art our favourite bottles
Everyone loves a new limited edition bottle design, which is good, because many a brand has ventured down the artist or designer collaboration road. Below are some of the newest and some of the best.
1. Hennessey recently asked the highly regarded abstract graffiti and urban-contemporary artist, Futura. Each limited edition bottle is numbered, now available to purchase from neverstopneversettle. One might have thought the great Futura might have declined to be paid for a brand collab, but it seems everyone is doing it these days. Why not? we say; remaining faithful to the streets is no more of an economical way to survive as a graf artist today than it was five or even ten years ago.
Futura with his specially-designed Hennessy bottle
2. Perrier-Jouët, the champagne of choice for Oscar Wilde and Coco Chanel, has employed the help of Japanese artist, Makoto Azuma. This recently unveiled design is the first limited edition bottle of cuvee Belle Epoque since the signature anenones were created by Emile Gallé in 1902. The design pays homage to the original artwork whilst drawing influences from Japanese art and culture. A lavish affair marked the launch of the bottle in one of Tokyo’s most stunning Happoen gardens and at an average of €300, you can purchase one of the bottles at all major Perrier-Jouët stockists.
Perrier-Jouët's new design by artist, Makoto Azuma
3. Gonzo. Hunter S. Thompson. Ralph Steadman. The legendary language, author and illustrator all captured on one bottle back in 2009. How so? Well that bottle was from the Flying Dog Brewing Company. Flying Dog founder, George Stranahan’s digs and cauldron were just down the road from Owl Farm, where Hunter S. Thompson wrote some of his most famous novels. They became friends, sharing a mutual love of explosives, football, high-powered weapons, whiskey and of course, beer.
Flying Dog's Gonzo and Hunter S. Thompson-inspired beer bottle featuring the work of Ralph Steadman
4. Coca Cola have orchestrated countless collaborations with artists and designers, including the old guy with the white ponytail who has a maid for his cats (Karl Lagerfeld, and a true story – Google it). But it is Matthew Williamson’s designs which caught many a fashionista’s attention, not least of all for bright colours and artistic illustrations.
Matthew Williamson's designs for Coca Cola
5. D*Face produced this limited edition artwork for Absolut, each one including a concrete casing and individually signed by the artist. Beautiful Crime ran a competition to win one them, so some lucky chap now has one in his sitting room. Unless he’s sold it on ebay. And we did spot a few. Our advice to you? Keep it! It will be worth much more in ten years…
D*Face's concrete coat for Absolut.
6. Paul Smith’s simple and fresh reworking of one of the evian glass bottles went down a treat for ‘classic with a twist’ lovers and naive spelled backwards-cum-water drinkers alike. Plus one cannot help be cheered up at seeing the multi-coloured magic of a rainbow.
Paul Smith's 'classic with a twist' evian bottle
7. The man who turned himself in to a brand, refaced (or defaced?) a Heineken bottle with his own signature branding – that of the world-famous multi-coloured spots. Maybe he could put one in formaldehyde to earn himself yet more cash.
Hirst does Heineken with his famed multi-coloured spots
9. Jamie Hewlett’s London-themed characters (find Dickens, he was our favourite) were spread across Absolut bottles (another brand keen on a collab) much to the delight of his fans. Those who couldn’t afford a Jamie Hewlett print or original, or had to make do with a photograph taken at a Gorillaz gig, rushed out to buy the limited edition bottles.
Another for Absolut: Jamie Hewlett takes to the bottle
10. Zarb champagne is owned by the Baron family, and by the looks of it, has employed an artist who is keen on making these bottles of champagne look as least like champagne bottles as possible. But how amazing are they! We’d love the first as a doorstop and the second as duster. The third? Well at least one of them would need drinking.
Last but not least, Zarb Champagne gets very adventurous