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The
Zen line appropriated a more Baroque Japanese aesthetic, of the kind
found in the profusely decorated and richly gilded temples, shrines, and
mausoleums of Nikkō. The product’s display of flowers and trees
silhouetted in gold against a lush black background recalls the
traditional craft of maki-e, or
lacquerware painted and sprinkled with gold. As the first product to be
designed specifically for an American audience, Zen represented, on the
one hand, a familiar exoticized vision of Japan and, on the other, a
reassertion of traditional concepts of beauty and belief systems, as the
product name suggests. The gold string tie references the celebrated
Japanese art of wrapping and packaging. Zen was first launched in 1964
in the United States, and in Japan and worldwide the following year.
Zen perfume, 1964 |
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