With the launch of Helmut Lang Parfums in 2000, Lang extended his singular aesthetic into scent, translating his stark, cerebral minimalism into fragrance. The debut of Eau de Parfum and Eau de Cologne—followed by Cuiron in 2002—was distinguished not just by its olfactory composition but by its visual and conceptual rigor, overseen by designer Marc Atlan.
Atlan, known for his work with Comme des Garçons and his precise, almost clinical approach to luxury branding, devised the packaging as an exercise in restraint. The bottles, stark glass rectangles with sans-serif black typography, echoed Lang’s fashion—severely modern, devoid of excess, yet deeply considered. The campaign extended this ethos further through a collaboration with conceptual artist Jenny Holzer, whose provocative, capitalized text works appeared across promotional materials. Her aphorisms—direct, urgent, and subversive—imbued the launch with a sense of unease, challenging the conventions of fragrance marketing.
A retail partnership with Selfridges in 2001 reinforced the line’s positioning within both fashion and contemporary art. Lang, Atlan, and Holzer together shaped not just a fragrance, but an artifact—where scent, typography, and design coalesced into a stark, uncompromising vision.
