Which Came First: The Product or the Egg?

Many of the internet generation look back at the iconic L’eggs package -the egg- nostalgically as a toy discarded by their mothers. The introduction of L’eggs in 1971 was much more than that. It was revolutionary. My first experience with sheer stockings involved a grown-up lesson in garter belts, which brought their own kind of pain, plus it was extremely difficult to find stockings that fit properly. When the stretchy, form-fitting, mass consumer pantyhose were introduced, we cared less for the packaging than the product. Yet the packaging was brilliant, and we’ll never forget it. For that, we can thank graphic designer Roger Ferriter.

The anecdote describes a flustered Ferriter who, on the morning of his marketing and package design pitch to Hanes, decided his current scheme wasn’t quite creative enough. Ferriter, hoping to be inspired by the product by experiencing it in a new way, tested pantyhose’s compactness by scrunching them up in the palm of his hand. Upon considering the wad of hose in his clenched fist, Ferriter was struck by the idea that the package should resemble an egg, “nature’s perfect package, a symbol of newness and freshness,” which, pun-ily enough, happens to rhyme with “leg.” He added an apostrophe for a “touch of French flair” and this jeu de mots gave rise to one of the most iconic brand logos and package designs to grace grocery shelves in the twentieth century.

It wasn’t only the design, but the marketing behind it that also helped L’eggs become a sensation. Read about the genius that went into L’eggs at Cooper Hewitt.