The Future of Black Prestige Beauty Packaging
Everyone is chasing playfulness. Very few brands are building authority.
That is the real tension behind the Marc Jacobs Beauty relaunch.
Cosmetics Business journalist Amanda May recently asked me to share my perspective on whether the brand’s new trinket-style packaging is a hit or a miss. A few excerpts were included in the article, but I wanted to share my full response here because the conversation is bigger than one launch.
For me, the missed opportunity is not that Marc Jacobs Beauty became playful. The missed opportunity is that the crown of black prestige makeup has been sitting on the floor for years.
MAC once owned that territory culturally. Marc Jacobs Beauty had the chance to redefine it for a new generation, but chose the language of charms instead.
Black packaging does not have to feel old, corporate or expected. It can be sensual, futuristic, luxurious, disruptive, collectible and emotionally charged.
The issue is not playfulness. Beauty needs more creativity, more emotion and more self-expression. The issue is when playfulness becomes a shared visual formula, and every brand speaks the same language to say they are different.
Below is my full response to Cosmetics Business.
1 - Marc Jacobs Beauty is back, and people have been talking about the new packaging in the relaunched range as much as the actual products. Why do you think that is?
There are two reasons. The first is that packaging is the only thing people can judge with certainty right now. The formulas have not been tested at scale yet, but the packaging has already been seen, shared and discussed. In the age of e-commerce, packaging is often the first real point of contact between a person and a brand, and consumers today are far more visually educated than previous generations. They read packaging, react to it and discuss design with a fluency that simply did not exist before.
The second reason is context. Marc Jacobs Beauty is not starting from zero. The industry may have understood the discontinuation, but for the people who loved the brand, it simply disappeared one day. That absence created expectation. So this packaging is not being read only as packaging. It is being read as the first declaration of what this new era intends to be.
2 - Marc Jacobs Beauty's new packaging is bright, bold and leaning into the trinket/collectible era of beauty packaging. Do you think this is a smart move or not? Please explain why.
I do not think the problem is playfulness. On the contrary, play is an essential part of creativity, and Marc Jacobs has always had a very natural relationship with that. The problem is that many brands today are expressing playfulness through the same visual codes: charms, cute objects, strong colors, toy-like forms. When everyone uses the same language to communicate creativity, that language starts to lose power.
The original Marc Jacobs Beauty packaging already had a sense of playfulness, but in a much more sophisticated way. Those black, glossy forms with soft curves and rounded edges felt modern and sensual without being literal about it. They did not need to scream "fun" to feel different.
That is why I am not sure leaning so heavily into the trinket and collectible aesthetic is the smartest move. Unfortunately, the packaging gets lost among so many charms we see all the time. And because those elements are fixed to the packaging, it feels more like a collectible aesthetic than a truly collectible experience. For me, that universe could have been part of the brand ecosystem, but not the center of the identity. Marc Jacobs Beauty did not need to come back simply feeling current. It needed to come back feeling unmistakably Marc Jacobs.
3 - How innovative/unique is the packaging, and do you think the playful/tactile nature of it will help make this relaunched range a success?
I would say the packaging is highly customized, but not necessarily innovative. There is an important difference between creating an object with personality and truly reinventing a packaging category.
Marc Jacobs Beauty has always understood the value of customization very well. The original line already had very ownable components, with shapes, curves and a visual presence that did not feel generic. This new collection also creates objects with character and takes risks. Many brands customize components, but very few manage to make that customization feel truly distinctive.
But from an innovation standpoint, I do not think the proposal reinvents the compact or the gesture of use.
I do think that physical experience can help the relaunch because it creates conversation and content. But long-term success is a different question. Surprise is not a strategy. The packaging needs to build a clear, consistent and recognizable identity.
4 - What elements about the packaging do you think work well, and what doesn't? Also, what are your thoughts on the daisy motif linking back to the brand's successful fragrance line?
I think what works best is that the collection does represent the Marc Jacobs DNA. One of the most important rules of packaging is that it should represent both the product inside and the world of the brand. In that sense, this collection has personality. It is not a neutral translation. It is clearly Marc Jacobs, but not from the more editorial, black and chic side of the original line. It comes from his more playful, pop and decorative universe.
The tactile experience also works very well. These are objects you want to touch, hold, open and look at. Details like the swivel-slide lid give the packaging a small moment of interaction, and that adds memorability.
I also think the Daisy connection is smart. Daisy has always represented the brighter, more organic and more playful side of Marc Jacobs, so using that code can help connect the makeup line to a franchise that already has a life of its own.
What works less well, for me, is the cohesion of the system. Each component feels very considered as an individual object, but not necessarily as part of the same family. The Money Shot Multi-Use Illuminating Gel Highlighter, for example, feels quite disconnected from the rest. The pieces are interesting. The system is not yet there.
5 - This packaging is very different to the sleeker and chic packaging of the original range. Do you think it was right for the brand to pivot so far away from this? Will it isolate OG fans or re-win them?
For me, this is the biggest miss of the relaunch. When Marc Jacobs Beauty first appeared, it was competing against a MAC that was still very strong: black, professional, aspirational, almost institutional. Today the context is different. MAC is going through its weakest creative moment in years. And no one is leading the territory of what the black packaging of the future could be. That was the real opportunity.
Not to come back by copying the previous line, but by evolving it. The brand already had a very powerful code: black, glossy, sleek, chic, with a fashion sensibility that felt entirely its own. It was not a generic black component. It had shape, attitude and a recognizable personality. An ownable, desirable territory that many original fans loved.
The relaunch could have introduced a more modern, more desirable and more sophisticated version of that universe. A black compact of the future. Something that took the memory of the brand and pushed it into a new, more elevated and more contemporary place. And from there, yes, they could have added charms, playful codes or collectible elements that complemented the collection instead of replacing its main identity.
That is why I think the pivot went too far. The new direction may attract conversation and new consumers, but it also risks losing part of what made Marc Jacobs Beauty feel special. The brand did not need to abandon its past. It needed to surpass it.
6 - How do you think Coty & Marc Jacobs Beauty can build on the momentum around the new range's packaging, and what can they do in the future to ensure it continues to excite and delight?
I think Coty and Marc Jacobs Beauty should build on this momentum by thinking of packaging as an ecosystem, not just as a collection of primary components.
If the brand has decided to enter this more decorative, tactile and collectible universe, then there is a huge opportunity to take it much further through secondary packaging. PR boxes, gift boxes, cosmetic bags, advent calendars, charms, limited-edition objects and unboxing moments could all become a natural extension of the collection.
That is where Marc Jacobs Beauty could truly innovate. Many of the major players in the industry are quite weak in this type of packaging today. There are many beautiful boxes. But very few memorable experiences. Marc Jacobs has the creative permission to design secondary packaging better than almost any other brand in beauty.
It is not just about launching more products. It is about building a Marc Jacobs Beauty world that people want to touch, keep, share and collect. But for it to remain exciting in the long term, every new gesture has to add something real to the brand universe. Cute without conviction fades. The brands that last are the ones that make you feel something every time you touch the packaging.
