Chanel N ° 5: centenary of a cult perfume
Audio 03:03
Advertising lithograph from 1921 for Chanel N ° 5, produced by Sem.
© Public domain
By: Pauline Gleize Follow
8 mins
The now legendary perfume was launched on May 5, 1921, 05/05, the day fashion designer Gabrielle Chanel used to scroll through her collections.
A number which, she hoped, would bring good luck to her perfume.
History has proven him right, success has been there.
Publicity
A table strewn with small vials, mouillettes put out to dry like palm leaves, we are in the office of the “temple guardian”:
Chanel's
“nose”
, only the fourth in the history of the group. It is now Olivier Polge, who is responsible, through the assembly and the supply of raw materials in particular
,
to preserve the fragrance. A fragrance in which "
the most important notes are obviously jasmine
", emphasizes Olivier Polge, a mouillette soaked in N ° 5 under the nose.
Dominances of jasmine, or even rose, and ylang-ylang.
But you have to have the perfumer's fine sense of smell to truly identify them.
And for good reason: "
it is an abstract perfume, a floral bouquet, which was quite new at the time of its creation when many perfumes were organized around a main scent, such as lily of the valley, jasmine or rose.
», Explains the creator.
"Floral aldehyde"
An innovative fragrance also for another ingredient.
She comport
e
"
a totally new dosage of these fresh notes, a little metal, called aldehydes.
Aldehydes which bring a little abstract side to the perfume.
"
This “bouquet” of smells was
Gabrielle Chanel's
wish
.
She had asked Ernest Beaux for an "artificial" perfume, "
constructed as one constructs a dress
".
She would then have chosen bottle N ° 5 among the various proposals.
Marie-Dominique Lelièvre, author of “
N ° 5 de Chanel.
Unauthorized Biography
"says
s
ur France Bleu that perfume would actually born a few years before in Moscow.
The mark, it is formal on its date of birth in 1921.
The original 1921 bottle of Chanel N ° 5 available in four different formats, exhibited in 2005 in New York.
© AFP / Stan Honda
Anyway, we should no longer say "the", but "the" No. 5. The original extract has given rise to several variations, including eau de toilette and eau de parfum. Beyond this product, "
it is also somewhat the grammar of the style of Chanel perfumes
", comments Olivier Polge.
In any case, the smell is not the only key to its success.
Beyond its particular scent, Eugénie Briot, head of programs at the Givaudan school of perfumery, attributes its longevity to several other factors, starting with the name or rather the number.
“
Very daring,
” says the historian of perfumery, “
but ultimately, that immediately places him out of time and out of fashion.
This made it more easily adaptable to every era, every culture and every market
.
As for the bottle,
"it plays a bit the same role as the name
".
Great filmmakers
A sleek bottle that has changed little in a century of existence. A bottle screen printed by Andy Warhol in 1985
.
But the artist who has undoubtedly contributed the most to the fame of the perfume is Marilyn Monroe. In the 1950s, the actress dodged an embarrassing question during an interview with
Life
magazine
: What was she wearing to sleep? "
From Chanel N ° 5
". The American icon returns a few years later on this pirouette during another interview. The soundtrack was acquired much later by the Maison and used in one of its commercials in 2012.
The brand has also relied heavily on its communication. For advertising films, "
Chanel has always called on great filmmakers to make these films,
" recalls Eugenie Briot. Ridley Scott, Baz Luhrmann, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Their role is essential.
“
The name plays the role of a blank page onto which we are going to project a story. And the advertising film is there to invent, for each era, the story that corresponds to No. 5.
"
Stories that range from the sophisticated and sensual woman embodied by Nicole Kidman, to the daring Red Riding Hood pastiched by Luc Besson.
“The
whole history of communication for N ° 5 was made of an alternation between brunettes and blondes
,” underlines Eugenie Briot.
It is interesting to wait for the continuation and to see to what extent this advertising imaginary which is the reflection of its time will perhaps evolve towards more diversity.
"
An alternation of brunettes and blondes, but not only.
Chanel also recruited Brad Pitt as an ambassador.
A man alone, facing the camera, to promote a woman's perfume, an unusual exercise.
N ° 5: the success of a scent, also a communication success.
In any case, there is one element on which the brand does not communicate: the number of bottles sold worldwide.
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