Kenzo’s fragrance project known as Unidentified Fragrance Object (it’s Parfum Objet Non Identifie in French — but we’re going to call it UFO) is largely about the bottle: it was designed by Ron Arad, and was featured in retrospective exhibits at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and MOMA in New York (the MOMA show runs through 10/19). Kenzo asked Arad to come up with a “a vehicle for fragrance that breaks with traditional industry codes and evokes sensuality when in contact with the skin”. The result, shown above, is made of zamac, a metal alloy, and can be cradled in the palm of the hand (it will not stand vertically).

I have not seen the bottle in person, but I love it in pictures and I love the whole idea of the project: most out-of-the-ordinary fragrance bottles emphasize bling rather than design, and let’s face it, most of them cost a fortune. The $188 they’re asking for UFO isn’t peanuts, but you don’t have to mortgage your children for it either. I think we’ve all agreed that $100 is the new free? So this is only $88 more than free…

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