In 1921, Gabrielle Chanel in the middle of the Russian period met the incredible and charismatic Ernest Beaux, one of the first perfumers to exploit new molecules from emerging chemistry.
She orders from him, as one would order a moon-colored dress, a "
woman's smell
", an "
artificial perfume, artificial like a dress, that is to say, manufactured
".
The iconoclastic nose will subject it to several tests including a No 5, an overdose of aldehydes with metallic facets radicalizing a bouquet of ylang-ylang, May rose and neroli… The minimalist glass bottle, the name strictly mathematically devoid of sentimentalism, but also the sales techniques of its creator will launch the smell.
The following decades will build his legend.
Gabrielle Chanel or the “Marquise de la Flaconnerie” by designer Sem, in 1921. Sem / Archives Chanel
A century later, "the 5" is still part of the top 5 best-selling perfumes in the world.
The only one to have remained in the top of the rankings for so long, the only one to continue to exist on all continents.
So how do we maintain
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