Sure, the gift inside is amazing, but the packaging can be just as impressive, especially when you riff on the season’s top runway looks. From bold dots to petal pinks with attitude, these details deliver a luxe touch.
POWER CIRCLES Inspired by VALENTINO
With a nod to Italy’s pop artists of the ’60s, Valentino‘s Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli sent out supercharged fall looks electrified with mod dots.
HOW TO
1. Begin with a black box, or one wrapped with dark, shiny paper.
2. Create stripes on your package with lengths of ribbon in red, green, and black. Tack strips down on the underside of the box with double-stick tape.
3. Now comes the fun part! Far left: Decorate with rows of sticker dots placed on the ribbons or directly onto the box. Top right: Use various sizes of stickers and circular cards (affixed with tape). Let some peek out beneath the ribbon bands. Bottom right: Wrap oversize dots around the box’s edges for a scalloped effect.
4. Finish by knotting a skinny ribbon around the box.
PINK + PUNK inspired by CHRISTOPHER KANE
Working in a mash-up of materials from mink to nylon, Christopher Kane designed a fall line that was a high/low excursion into glamour, with rippling organza dresses edged in black. Of course, where hard and soft meet, the thrill is in the contrast—just take these petal pink packages bound with stark, intersecting bands of skinny black tape. Like Kane’s best work, the look is cleverly cheeky.
HOW TO
1. Wrap your box with glossy pale pink paper.
2. Create rays of black lines using skinny art tape. To make the symmetrical pattern, top left: Begin with a line of tape around the center of the box; bisect it with a line of tape down the middle. Add multiple strips of tape radiating from the center, placed at varying angles around the width of the box; extend all lines around to the back. For the asymmetrical pattern, bottom left: Start at a single point midway along one side of the box; place five strips of tape radiating like spokes from a hub. Next, add an adjacent ray to intersect the first batch at a sharp angle.
3. Finish with a gift card cut from pink paper that has been edged with black tape.
BOHO MIX inspired by BURBERRY PRORSUM
When Christopher Bailey goes artsy in that oh-so-British way, it’s bound to be a wonderful season. The designer’s ode to Bloomsbury evokes the feminine mystique of Vanessa Bell, Virginia Woolf, and their early-20th-century arts-and-letters group. Translate his billowy florals and moody lace into boxes embellished with copper leather ties and aqua bows.
HOW TO
1. Wrap a box in pale pink paper.
2. To duplicate the package, near right: Cover with burgundy lace; affix on the back with heavy-duty double-stick tape.
3. Place a wide strip of patterned paper around the middle; affix with tape in back.
4. Crisscross bands of copper ribbon; tape in back. Finish with a silky aqua cord bow.
5. For the box, far right: Cut a wide band of lace to cover two thirds of the package; affix to the back with heavy-duty double-stick tape.
6. Cover the remaining third of the box with a strip of floral-patterned paper; tape in back.
7. Finish with copper ribbon and a punchy blue bow.
NEON BLOOMS inspired by DIOR
Raf Simons revved up his brilliant Dior collection with a series of color-saturated dresses, each one slashed and then cleverly sutured with lacy blooms. Using fabric appliqués and sturdy book-cover cloth, re-create the effect to turn simple gift packages into a mega-modern statement.
HOW TO
1. Wrap a gift box with book cloth in a bold color; secure it with heavy-duty double-stick tape on the back.
2. Layer bands of book cloth in a contrasting color on top, using sharp scissors to cut neat strips; affix to the back with tape. To make the semicircular cutout, bottom: Take a pencil and trace the edge of a pot lid onto the fabric band, then trim.
3. Use glue to attach embroidered appliqués and sequin flowers to the front.
CUT AWAY CHIC inspired by VERSACE
Donatella Versace is known for her confident sensuality, which shone like a beacon this fall in Atelier Versace’s array of black-and-metallic silver gowns cut on the bias—all the better to play up the diagonals that so fascinated her this season. Let your packages reflect the same dramatic geometry with matte and metallic papers trimmed at sharp angles and layered beneath black leather bands.
HOW TO
1. Begin with a silver box, or wrap one in metallic paper.
2. Cut triangles out of white, silver, and black papers. Affix one to the front with strips of silver glitter tape (use triangles as gift tags too).
3. Finish with black ribbon tied in a neat knot.