KOSÉ casts SEKKISEI BLUE's roof-tile jars from its own husk waste — Red Dot BoB 2025

SEKKISEI BLUE is KOSÉ's holistic skincare series, formulated from traditional East Asian herbal knowledge in which body and mind are treated as one balanced system. The design brief asked for packaging that would communicate that Kampō origin and the brand philosophy without falling into the ornate traditionalism common among Japanese brands writing their names in kanji.

Creative director Henri Harada described the goal as a chair rather than a throne: the same function, radically more minimalist. The resulting caps and jars take their simple, functional silhouette from Japanese Kawara roof tiles, and every product in the 17-piece range can be nested and stacked with the others — a physical expression of balance that also makes the line read as one coherent system on a shelf. Soft curves make the forms pleasant to touch, and carefully developed natural colors orient shoppers across categories.

Sustainability was embedded in the object itself. The lids and caps are molded from resin containing adlay (Job's-tears) husks, a waste material collected while SEKKISEI manufactures its own Job's-tears extract. The husks burn as the mold reaches temperature, turning the resin brown; rather than treating this as a defect, the design team experimented with husk quantities until the natural discoloration matched the palette they wanted.

The jury called the series aesthetically composed in every respect, praising the tradition and authenticity of the natural products and the excellent storytelling of the design. SEKKISEI BLUE became KOSÉ's first Red Dot: Best of the Best winner in the Product Design category, and the DECORTÉ AQ Eau de Parfum, developed with Marcel Wanders Studio, took a Red Dot Award in the same cycle.