Chanel N°5 perfume
The story of Coco Chanel is singular and intriguing. An extraordinary destiny, she lived a thousand lives guided by a great feverish anti-conformism. A journey that has been the subject of much ink, that has spawned many books and films recounting several facets of her singular destiny: her talent as a creator and pioneer, her romantic or dangerous love stories, her determination in business and her conflicts with the Wertheimer family, her attitude during the war. She launched a perfume in the middle of the Roaring Twenties, incredibly modern, a manifesto of emancipation and a timeless icon.
The story of Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel had an extraordinary journey that began as an orphan and led her to become the world's most famous fashion designer which made her one of the richest women in the post-war world.
The perfume Chanel N°5 was her first perfume and a stroke of genius. It is a myth, a legend, it is a perfume that is still one of the best-sellers all over the world.
The creation of the Chanel N°5
There are many stories about its creation. It was created in 1921, nobody can doubt the great talent of Mademoiselle Chanel, her avant-gardism. She created an aesthetic that went against the grain of the time.
With the idea of a laboratory bottle or a whiskey flask of her former lover? A square, sober, minimalist, yet luxurious bottle.
Was the bottle design really inspired by the Place Vendôme in Paris? Black corner pieces underline the immaculate white cases, packaging that is almost unchanged today, a tour de force!
In 1920, everyone was talking about Chanel. Elegant women flocked to the boutique on rue Cambon, after visiting the one in Deauville, to buy Coco Chanel's creations, refined, elegant and stamped with the famous double C.
A year later, they discovered the first fragrance of Coco Chanel sold at first in unique size and in limited series.
Gabrielle Chanel first offered her perfume to her loyal customers.
Mademoiselle Chanel, with her sense of marketing, perfumed the fitting rooms of the rue Cambon. Her customers became addicted to her fragrance and asked her to have some again. She said that it was a small unpretentious perfumer who had created this fragrance for her but that she didn't know if she could have any more.
Meeting with perfumer Ernest Beaux
Chanel N°5 was also born from a meeting with a perfumer, Ernest Beaux, whom she knew in the circle of many Russian emigrants, notably in that of Grand Duke Dimitri (who is said to have killed Rasputin), cousin of Tsar Nicolas II of Russia and brother of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, owner of a fashion and perfume house.
Coco Chanel was greatly inspired by the pomp of the Russian aristocracy (jewelry, Russian haute couture). The Grand Duke Dimitri became her lover and gave her the idea to launch her own perfume.
Ernest Beaux, of French origin, was born in Russia and has always lived in Russia. A chemist of formation, he was the creator of many perfumes for the court of the Russian Tsars, he made his first steps in the Rallet company.
Several stories confront each other on the creation of Chanel N°5 fragrance
Official and unofficial
Official: Ernest Beaux presented Coco Chanel with a series of samples from number 1 to 5, and from 20 to 24. Coco Chanel choosed the sample N°5. Why was she asked? "Because I'm launching my collection on May 5th, the fifth month of the year, my lucky number." For her, the number 5 represented the quintessence of the alchemists.
This number 5 which became the name of the fragrance, indeed brought her luck and was one of the most worn perfumes in the world. In her words, she wanted "a woman's perfume with a woman's scent".
Gabrielle Chanel recommended to spray perfume extract "where you want to be kissed".
Unofficial: in Marie Dominique Leliève's unauthorized biography, she reveals that Ernest Beaux proposed to Coco Chanel a fragrance that had already been launched under the name Bouquet de Catherine in 1913. It was a flop at that time but it nevertheless seduced Mademoiselle Chanel.
Marilyn Monroe and the Chanel N°5
Interview in 1953:
- What do you wear to sleep ? Pyjamas, pyjama top, jumpsuit?
- I don't wear anything at night, just a few drops of Chanel N°5. Don't say that I’m naked, the truth is I wear Chanel N°5!
These short sentences helped to propel the sales of Chanel N°5 and made it a legendary perfume. Later Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet and even Brad Pitt became the muses of this fragrance.
The fragrance of Chanel N°5
Coco Chanel fell in love with the fragrance because it was floral (cf. Floral family) but not heavy and overpowering. Far from the soliflores of the time, but rather an abstract signature floral bouquet. This perfume was launched on 5 May 1921.
This fragrance is made of beautiful raw materials: Centifolia rose, Grandiflora jasmine from Grasse, orange blossom, neroli, vetiver from Haiti, tonka bean from Brazil, ylang-ylang, iris Pallida, vanilla.
These precious ingredients are underlined and sublimated by aldehydic notes (cf. Aldehyde facet) that gives it a clean, abstract, edgy and airy feel. It is not the first time that these aldehydes were used in a perfume, its creativity was to play these notes in overdose. These aldehydes exalt perfumes, like lemon reveals strawberry, notes that have the power to make flowers sing. Aldehydes evoke snow, clean laundry, the smell of an iron, or the scent of soap.
Creation of the Perfume Company Chanel
Coco Chanel wanted her perfume to be launched at Galeries Lafayette.
The Perfume Company was founded on April 4th, 1924, with the Wertheimer, owners of the Bourgeois company, which manufactured Chanel N°5 perfume and allowed the deployment and diffusion worldwide. Ernest Beaux was the technical director.
The contract was divided as follows: the Wertheimers had 70% of the shares because they took all the risks; the director of Galeries Lafayette, Théophile Bader, was part of this company at the time as a business contributor, he took 20% of the shares; Coco Chanel had only 10%.
From the 1930s, under the influence of her lover Paul Iribe, the great Artistic Director, Coco Chanel was convinced that the Wertheimers were ripping her off. A terrible fight broke out between them in 1939 and continued for several years. Nevertheless, they negotiated with her and even saved the day after the war.
During her exile in Switzerland, Coco Chanel took advantage of it and made a bluff: she relaunched her improved fragrance: the Super 5 of Chanel, which led to confusion with the original one and pushed the Wertheimer to stop the fight. They found an agreement that made Coco Chanel very rich.
Without the Wertheimer family, there would not have been the creation of this beautiful perfume house. Without Gabrielle Chanel, who embodied the Chanel N°5 perfume, there would not have been this international success. It was the Chanel N°5 perfume that made her extremely rich.
Her last stroke of genius: a return to the top of the bill, thanks to her famous tweed suit. Thousands of them were sold and adopted by celebrities and "first ladies".
3 bottles of Chanel N°5 perfume were offered to the American GIs.
In 1971, Coco Chanel died in her room at the Ritz.
Conclusion on the Chanel N°5
In 1959, the perfume bottle N°5 was included in the permanent exhibition of the MOMA in New York. The Chanel N°5 was dressed by artists including the famous Andy Warhol tribute series in 1985. In 2021, the Chanel N°5 celebrated its 100th anniversary of creation.
Following in the footsteps of Chanel N°5 perfume, considered the leader of aldehydic floral fragrances, many scents were launched:
- Arpège by Lanvin 1927
- Liu by Guerlain 1929 (the closest in olfactory terms)
- Fleurs de Rocaille by Caron 1933
- Calèche by Hermès 1961
- Madame de Rochas by Rochas 1969
- Calandre by Paco Rabanne 1969
- Rive Gauche by Saint Laurent 1971
- First by Van Cleef 1976
- Courreges in Blue by Courreges 1983
Parfums Sylvaine Delacourte
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