ABSOCIETY

Theme · 1990–2025 · 107 editions

Second skins

This collection gathers Absolut second skins: sleeves, cases, bags and covers that dress a standard Absolut bottle rather than change the glass. The idea goes back at least to La Doudoune, a padded jacket for the bottle sold in Paris for Christmas 1996, and grew into a yearly habit as Absolut built its end-of-year packs around the plain bottle, with mirror balls, spangles and studded leather. Many skins were local, made for a carnival, a sports club or a New Year celebration, and fashion labels took their turn at dressing the bottle. A skin can be taken off and kept, which makes each one an object in its own right.

107 editions

  1. 2025

    Wicked 1 variant The classic Absolut Vodka bottle (plain, 40% ABV) is covered with a reversible sequined sleeve. With a simple flick of the wrist, the sleeve changes color, shifting from pink (evoking the character of Glinda) to emerald green (evoking Elphaba).

  2. 2024

    Tampa Bay Bucaneers 2 variants A black neoprene skin from Absolut's partnership with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
    Undefeated 1 variant A skin made with Undefeated, the Chinese sportswear and lifestyle label, on the theme of the vibrant city trio: Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu. 100 copies.

  3. 2021

    Per Götesson #2 1 variant Per Götesson's second skin for Absolut: hand-made denim with a spiral zip running around the body, a jeans pocket carrying the branding, and an extended collar with the designer's tag tucked underneath. Ten were made, and went to the press at the private view of his SS21 collection.

  4. 2020

    Better Together #1 1 variant The first of six skins made with the Italian label MSGM at the height of social distancing. The line printed across them — “Nothing makes sense when we're apart” — only resolves when two bottles are stood side by side; alone, each one is a fragment.
    Better Together #2 1 variant The second of the six MSGM skins. Like the rest of the set it carries only part of the sentence “Nothing makes sense when we're apart”, which needs a neighbouring bottle to be read at all.
    Better Together #3 1 variant The third of the six MSGM skins, and like its siblings unreadable on its own: the message resolves only when two of the set are brought together.
    Better Together #4 1 variant The fourth of the six skins MSGM designed for Absolut in 2020, each carrying a fragment of a sentence that only completes against another bottle.
    Better Together #5 1 variant The fifth of the six MSGM skins, one more piece of a message about closeness that no single bottle can deliver.
    Better Together #6 1 variant The last of the six MSGM skins. Standing alone it says nothing; paired with any of the other five it completes the line about being apart.
    Military Skin #1 1 variant A camouflage neoprene skin, stocked in small numbers at selected military bases.
    Military Skin #2 1 variant The second camouflage neoprene skin, on a different pattern from the first, and again sold only at selected military bases.
    Sacai Spray Nozzle 1 variant The silicone sleeve from the sacai set, made to fit over a refillable spray nozzle.

  5. 2019

    Arizona Diamondback 1 variant A second skin produced for Absolut's partnership with the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball club: the team logo on one face, the head of the snake mascot on the other.
    Concrete 2 variants A skin made with the Korean label Studio Concrete and sold in one place only: Absolut Lab, the temporary store in Shanghai. It came in two colourways, a light blue and green run of fifty and a near-white run of twenty.
    DOE 1 variant A skin made with DOE, the Chinese fashion and streetwear label.
    Golden State Warrior #2 1 variant The 2019 Warriors skin — blue neoprene over the 1.75 litre, the second of the pair.
    Hawaii 1 variant A neoprene skin given over to Hawaiian wind and surf.
    On Ice 1 variant A neoprene skin from Absolut's sponsorship of the Boston Bruins.
    Per Götesson 1 variant Ten skins in bespoke indigo yarn-dyed denim, each closed with a silver-plated button engraved with its edition number. Per Götesson made them for an Absolut event at the Hoxton in London.

  6. 2018

    Be The Thunder 1 variant A blue neoprene skin issued for Absolut's partnership with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the NHL club in Tampa, Florida.
    Golden State Warrior #1 1 variant A blue neoprene skin from Absolut's partnership with the Golden State Warriors, over the 1.75 litre bottle.
    Golden State Warrior Sock 1 variant A knitted blue sock rather than a moulded skin, carrying the Golden State Warriors logo.
    Sequin Grapefruit 1 variant The pink version of the flip-sequin bottle, over a standard Absolut Grapefruit.
    Sequin Lime 1 variant The green flip-sequin bottle, over a standard Absolut Lime.
    Sequin Silver 1 variant The silver flip-sequin bottle, and the largest of the 2018 run at 228,000 copies.

  7. 2017

    5 cm 2 variants A neoprene sleeve designed by the Chinese fashion label 5cm and sold only through I.T stores in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai. It came in two formats — 100 of the 200 ml and 200 of the 700 ml.
    Sequin 4 variants The end-of-year bottle for 2017, and the only one you can redraw with your fingers: the coating is made of flip sequins, so a hand run across the glass turns them over and leaves a message or a mark that the next hand can change again. The design takes its cue from a night sky, and was released in two executions for different markets.

  8. 2016

    Seattle Seahawks 1 variant A knitted skin over a standard 750 ml blue label bottle, made for Seahawks fans — the 12s, the crowd that American football counts as a twelfth player on the field. It was recalled over copyright.

  9. 2015

    Reval Denim Guild 1 variant A skin made with the Estonian label Reval Denim Guild: the stripes come off their Visionary Pants and read as a harlequin's motley, finished with a ruff collar at the neck. The argument behind it is that the court jester and the drink do the same job — licence to say what nobody else can, and a reminder not to take any of it too seriously. 1,200 copies.
    Switzerland 1 variant Fifty skins, 3D printed. Alberto “Sting” Russo worked from Poya, the folk painting of the Gruyère region that records the herds climbing to the summer pastures — nineteenth-century inventories that have since become landscape. Pastures, animals and trees are cut into the Absolut silhouette, rendered for printing by the agency C:LYNK and then finished and painted by hand. It was shown at launch events in Geneva and Zurich.

  10. 2014

    Cat Skin Black 1 variant Black neoprene "cozy" half skin with face of cat in black. Comes with a bottle of Originality.
    Cat Skin White 1 variant Black neoprene "cozy" half skin with face of cat in white. Comes with a bottle of Mix.
    Guacharaca 1 variant A skin shaped as a güiro, the scraped percussion instrument. It was due to launch in early 2015 and Pernod Ricard Colombia cancelled it late the previous year; six prototypes are all that exist.
    Makerfest #1 1 variant Ten leather bottle covers, cut and stitched by Steven Enns of the Hand and Sew Workshop.
    Makerfest #2 1 variant Ten leather bottle covers, entirely hand sewn horween leather with brass accents and a red leather seal.
    Pitcher - Citron 1 variant Clear hard plastic pitcher with yellow bale handle containing bottle of Absolut Citron
    Pitcher - Mango 1 variant Clear hard plastic pitcher with mango/orange bale handle containing bottle of Absolut Mango.
    Pitcher - Raspberri 1 variant Clear hard plastic pitcher with red bale handle containing bottle of Absolut Raspberri.
    Pitcher - Vanilia 1 variant Clear hard plastic pitcher with white bale handle containing bottle of Absolut Vanilia.
    Turkish Christmas Bag 1 variant A blue fabric drawstring bag printed with white snowflakes, made in Turkey for Christmas over a standard 700 ml blue label bottle.

  11. 2013

    Denim 2 variants A fitted denim second skin by Loren Cronk, of the avant-garde street fashion scene. Inside it is a high-tech thermal shield: out of the freezer, the sleeve keeps the vodka cold for around two hours. A QR code on the skin opened Drinkspiration, Absolut's cocktail app. Sold in duty free.
    Diesel Denim 1 variant A skin made for Colour Mutation, the event held on 18 July 2013 for the collaboration between Diesel and the G&B shop in Flero, Italy. Four versions were produced — Colour Mutation, Ruby Seabreeze, Tonic and Green Temptation — and none were ever distributed.
    Finland Finish 1 variant A blue leather skin over a standard 700 ml bottle, released in 2013 across Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. 20,000 copies.
    Turkish Citron Bag 1 variant A white cotton bag holding an Absolut Citron, made for the Turkish market.
    Turkish Pears Bag 1 variant A white cotton bag holding an Absolut Pears, one of the pair made for Turkey in 2013.
    Turkish Raspberri Bag 1 variant A white cotton bag holding an Absolut Raspberri, from the Turkish set of 2013.
    Turkish Ruby Red Bag 1 variant A white cotton bag holding an Absolut Ruby Red, the fourth of the Turkish cotton bags.

  12. 2011

    Carnaval Rio De Janeiro 1 variant One of three neoprene Carnaval skins — a material chosen for work, not looks: it holds the bottle cold for about two hours. This one is cut with the silhouette of the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum and a line of palm trees. 4,000 copies, over a litre bottle.
    Carnaval Sao Joao 1 variant The São João skin from the Carnaval trio: black neoprene, insulating the bottle for around two hours, printed with Absolut silhouettes laid out vertically and horizontally.
    Carnaval Sao Paulo 1 variant The São Paulo Carnaval skin, in the same insulating black neoprene as its two siblings. The Octávio Frias de Oliveira cable-stayed bridge dominates it, with a bird, a hand and city blocks around a wavy herringbone border at the base. 4,000 copies.
    I.T Set Black 1 variant The black half of a boxed pair: a wooden case holding leather second skins in black and white, over two 750 ml blue label bottles.
    Sold only at the I.T store in Hysan Place, Hong Kong, in 500 copies.
    I.T Set White 1 variant The white skin from the boxed I.T pair — leather, in a wooden case with its black twin, over 750 ml blue label bottles.
    Sold only at the I.T store in Hysan Place, Hong Kong, in 500 copies.
    New Zealand 1 variant A black hard-plastic gift pack designed by Huffer, the New Zealand fashion label: a silver map of the country built entirely out of the label's three-dot logo. 12,000 copies, and the first Absolut edition made for New Zealand.
    San Francisco Bag 1 variant A bag produced as point-of-sale material alongside Absolut San Francisco.
    White 2 variants A white hard-plastic case made with Selfridges for the festive season, over a standard blue label bottle, with the text on the glass also in white. It was sold only at Selfridges — Oxford Street, the Birmingham Bullring, the Trafford Centre, Manchester Exchange Square, and online.

  13. 2010

    Art of Sharing - France 1 variant Clear plastic serving pitcher with diagrams in shades of blue of the distillation process ending in a bottle of ABSOLUT.
    Art of Sharing - Frank 3 variants ABSOLUT FRANK. Clear plastic serving pitcher. Text includes "I like you/You're NEAT; Let's Talk; Happy Hour; This love with fade Nevuary 1; The VIP is anywhere we are together."
    Art of Sharing - Hank 3 variants Clear plastic serving pitcher with blue ribbon wrapping with text "I want to enjoy you responsibility" ending with hands pouring from a bottle into a martini glass.
    Art of Sharing - Holiday 3 variants Clear plastic serving pitcher with a variety of rounded topped buildings with faces.
    Art of Sharing - Lotus Reverly 3 variants Clear plastic serving pitcher with flowers.
    Canarinha 3 variants A tissue skin Pernod Ricard produced for the 2010 World Cup and handed to a short list of Brazilian bars as a display piece. Seventy were made — never sold, and among the hardest of the skins to find.
    Capsule 2 variants A clear hard-plastic case with a black top, built around a 200 ml bottle.
    Cheers 1 variant A silver hard-plastic sleeve that works as both shaker and pitcher, over a standard blue label bottle. 3,000 were made, for Korea.
    IAAW 2 variants Clear hard plastic cover skin with 50ml Absolut Citron/Pears extra inside in a compartment below the big bottle - IAAW = In An ABSOLUT World.
    Polish Paper 2 variants A white paper skin over a standard blue label bottle, made for the Polish market.
    Summer Acryl 1 variant A transparent hard-plastic skin scattered with coloured butterflies, over a standard blue label bottle. Germany, 2010.

  14. 2009

    Andres 1 variant A skin made from the lids of old kitchen pans, released in 200 copies for Andrés Carne de Res, the Colombian restaurant where Absolut was the best-selling imported spirit that year. The medallion reads “Ciudad de la luna — Absolut vodka”, the metal tag “Afortunado! Puedes llevarte a casa esta edición limitada”.
    Disco Blue 2 variants A blue re-issue of the 2007 Disco pack, made for the United States: the same thousand mirrored prisms in the shape of the bottle, sliding apart to release a standard blue label and hanging afterwards as a mirror ball.
    Disco Citron 1 variant The Citron version of the mirror-ball pack, in yellow, over a standard Absolut Citron. Like the rest of the re-issues it slides apart to open and hangs from its loop once emptied.
    Disco Mandrin 1 variant The Mandrin mirror ball: an orange faceted pack over a standard Absolut Mandrin, built from the same thousand reflecting prisms as the 2007 original.
    Disco Raspberri 1 variant The Raspberri mirror ball, in red, over a standard Absolut Raspberri — one of the four flavoured re-issues of the 2007 Disco pack.
    Mini Bar 4 variants A white architectural box that unfolds into a portable bar: the panels open out into trays for ice and garnish, with a standard blue label bottle sitting in the middle. The point was to make it possible to set up a decent bar anywhere.
    Rock 4 variants The end-of-year skin for 2009: black leather over a standard blue label bottle, studded with metal spikes.
    Rock Apeach 1 variant The Apeach version of the French Rock skin — black studded leather over a standard Absolut Apeach. France had four flavours, and this is the scarcest of them, at roughly a thousand copies.
    Rock French 1 variant The French Rock skin, distinguished from the international release by its banderole. Black studded leather over a standard blue label bottle, in a run of about 5,000.
    Rock Pears 1 variant Black studded leather over a standard Absolut Pears, one of the four flavours the French Rock skin came in. Roughly 5,000 copies.
    Rock Raspberri 1 variant The Raspberri version of the French Rock skin: black leather and metal spikes over a standard Absolut Raspberri, in around 5,000 copies.
    Selfridge 1 variant A yellow hard-plastic case made for the centenary of Selfridges.

  15. 2008

    Apeach Shaker 1 variant A chrome-finish plastic second skin built to work as a cocktail shaker, wrapped here around a standard Absolut Apeach. Released in 2008 in France and the United Kingdom, in four flavours: blue label, Apeach, Pears and Raspberri.
    Attraction 1 variant A white hard-plastic skin scattered with coloured butterflies, released in France in 2008 over a standard blue label bottle.
    Blue Shaker 2 variants A chrome-finish plastic second skin that doubles as a cocktail shaker, here over a standard blue label bottle. Released in 2008 in France and the United Kingdom alongside Apeach, Pears and Raspberri.
    Colors Case 4 variants A rainbow hard-plastic sleeve made for the thirtieth anniversary of the Pride flag, and the start of what became a long-running series of Absolut bottles wearing Gilbert Baker's design.
    Disco USA 2 variants The American Disco pack: the same faceted silver mirror-ball sleeve as the 2007 original, with ABSOLUT VODKA printed across the banderole.
    Masquerade 3 variants The end-of-year skin for 2008, and the most tactile Absolut ever made: 3,238 soft red spangles sewn into the shape of the bottle, with a zip up the back that slides apart to release it. Three versions circulate, distinguished by their banderole — sticker, card, or plain Absolut Vodka.
    Masquerade Apeach 1 variant The French Masquerade, in silver rather than red: soft spangles over a standard Absolut Apeach, with the same zip up the back. France had three flavours — Apeach, Raspberri and Pears.
    Masquerade Pears 1 variant The Pears version of the silver French Masquerade — spangled cloth with a zip at the back, over a standard Absolut Pears.
    Masquerade Raspberri 1 variant Silver spangles over a standard Absolut Raspberri, zipped at the back. One of the three flavours the French silver Masquerade came in.
    Pears Dual Package 1 variant A white hard-plastic case holding two bottles at once — a blue label and a Pears.
    Pears Shaker 1 variant A chrome-finish plastic sleeve that works as a cocktail shaker, over a standard Absolut Pears. France and the UK, 2008, alongside blue label, Apeach and Raspberri.
    Raspberri Shaker 1 variant A chrome-finish plastic sleeve doubling as a cocktail shaker, over a standard Absolut Raspberri. France and the UK, 2008.
    Summer 2 variants A white hard-plastic skin scattered with coloured butterflies, over a standard blue label bottle.

  16. 2007

    Disco 5 variants The end-of-year pack for 2007, and a mirror ball rather than a bottle: exactly 1,000 reflecting prisms assembled in the Absolut silhouette, opened by sliding the two halves apart. Empty, it hangs from its own integrated loop and does the job it was always shaped for. 2,900,000 were made.

  17. 2006

    Bling Bling 3 variants The end-of-year skin for 2006: a gold hard-plastic sleeve over a standard blue label bottle, and a straight-faced joke at the expense of the hip-hop era's appetite for shine — the bling that gave the bottle its name.

  18. 2005

    Coolpack Apeach 1 variant A silver thermal sleeve with a clear tag, wrapped around a standard Absolut Apeach. Released in France in 2005; the pack keeps the bottle cold on the way out of the shop.
    Coolpack Blue 1 variant A silver thermal sleeve with a clear tag over a standard blue label bottle — the pack keeps the vodka cold. France, 2005.
    Coolpack Raspberri 1 variant The Raspberri of the Coolpack trio: a silver thermal sleeve with a clear tag, holding a standard Absolut Raspberri. France, 2005.
    Snowflake 5 variants The first of the end-of-year editions, and the start of a tradition Absolut has kept up ever since: a white hard-plastic case cut through with snowflakes, over a standard blue label bottle.

  19. 2004

    Chinese Lantern 1 variant A skin in paper, plastic and metal folded into a square Chinese lantern, over a standard blue label bottle. Released for the 2004 New Year across Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland, in 10,000 numbered copies, each with a string tag serving as its certificate.

  20. 2003

    Blue Cozy 1 variant A Cozy that never reached the shops. 500 were made in 2003 and the edition was never officially released.
    Tube 1 variant 200 bottles by the French artist Patrick Daumont, sold in two Paris shops only — Lavinia and the Grande Épicerie at Le Bon Marché. The aluminium tubes that sleeve the bottle come off and lie flat as a tray.

  21. 2002

    Archi Couture 1 variant A bottle bag rather than a skin, drawn by Isabelle Ballu with Absolut and the award-winning architect Michel W. Kagan. 150 were made, for the French market, for Christmas 2002.

  22. 2001

    Cozy 3 variants Cynthia Rowley's insulating sleeve, and one of the largest runs Absolut has ever put out — a million of them, slipped into the Sunday editions of the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune in December 2001. A smaller run of 3,000 exists that was never cleared for distribution and was pulled from the market.

  23. 1999

    Trockel 1 variant Fifty bottles by the German artist Rosemarie Trockel, each sheathed in a coat of chain mail, with ABSOLUT and TROCKEL engraved on the side of the cap.

  24. 1997

    Xuly Bet 1 variant A skin by the clothing label Xuly Bët, sold in selected Paris shops for Christmas 1997 over a standard blue label bottle.

  25. 1996

    La Doudoune 1 variant Possibly the first Absolut skin of all: a padded jacket for the bottle, designed by the Polish designer Irena Gregory and sold in selected Paris stores for Christmas 1996. 150 copies.

  26. 1990

    Seagram Bag 1 variant The first cooler bag Absolut ever put out, made by Seagram.

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