Far from throwaway: Harvey Nichols own-label luxury packaging design revamp targets “fashion-forward” consumers

30 Oct 2018 --- Smith&+Village has unveiled its stylish rebrand of the Harvey Nichols food collection, which had stood untouched since its launch in 1994. The rebranding sought to project the image of the iconic store itself and used “Ab Fab” fashion of the 1990s as its inspiration. This luxury packaging is far from throwaway, and the store encourages that it is reused.

“The design of the physical packaging has been extremely important in this project. For a start, none of it is throw-away, so the Harvey Nics brand lives on in people’s kitchens long after the product is finished. Secondly, it is led and inspired by fashion to delight the target audience – pull-out biscuit packaging that is closer to a sunglasses case than a pack of biscuits; airtight tins to keep biscuits fresh for longer with colors inspired by lipstick shades and shiny, elegant refillable tea tins,” adds Debrah Smith, Creative Director, Smith&+Village.

“The original identity for the Harvey Nichols food collection captured the Ab Fab glamour of the 1990s. The new high-fashion identity is absolutely right for today’s super-stylish, highly visual, fashion-forward foodie consumer who wants to have fun when shopping the collection,” says Richard Village, Director, Smith&+Village.

Each range, from tea to biscuits, has been given its own identity, but it aims to mirror a fashion collection, so it has been built up with lots of different elements. The desired effect is that everything works together but does not look the same. 

The collection is unified by a strong tone of voice, luxury materials and a collection of newly crafted graphic patterns incorporating the Harvey Nichols ‘HN’ monogram. The success of the first range is evident with the patterns already appearing as touchpoints in other parts of the store.

“In reimagining our much-loved food collection, Smith&+Village has delivered an inspirational concept that connects with our consumers on many levels. It’s inspirational, agile and outstandingly relevant, with a finish that encourages the consumer – or gift recipient – to keep each piece of packaging and reuse and rediscover it time and time again,” says Shirley Aubrey, Food Development Manager, Harvey Nichols.