Made in the USA (Kinda)

There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago, about how new perfumes (excuse me, ‘fragrances’) are developed. Apparently it has little to do with the fragrance; they start with designing the really important things – the bottle and the box – and choosing the name.

And only then, pretty much as an afterthought, do they actually concoct the fragrance.

The article details the steps taken in the development of a new fragrance, Living Colorfully, for Kate Spade. As I say, it was interesting. But the really, really interesting part (to me) was this: The fragrance is blended in France, the bottles are made in China, and the boxes in Taiwan. All these items are then shipped to LA, where the fragrance is put in the bottles and the bottles are put in boxes.

And then we get the final step: They put a label on the box reading, “Made in the USA”.