The Making Of A Legend
Tomorrow, on the 5th May 2021, the world's most illustrious perfume, the legendary Chanel No. 5, celebrates its centenary. Here, we regale its impressive origin story.
As the story goes, in 1921, Chanel enlisted the talents of Russian perfumer Ernest Beaux to create a scent that 'smells like a woman, not a flower bed.' Never one to conform to any predetermined rules, Chanel wanted to offer women something that went beyond a soliflore – a scent made up of one or two simple notes – which was typical of the time. 'I want an artificial fragrance like a dress, something crafted,' she declared. 'I am a seamstress. I don't want rose or lily-of-the-valley; I want a composed fragrance.' The scent was to appeal to the chic flapper girls of the time and celebrate the liberated feminine spirit of the 1920s.
Beaux presented a numbered series of perfume samples comprising up to 80 natural and synthetic ingredients, and, as legend has it, Chanel picked the fifth sample. Chanel — who was interested in signs and symbols — had chosen the figure as her lucky charm, going as far as to set it as the date she presented her new collections; 'I show my collections on the fifth of May, the fifth month of the year, so let's leave the number it bears, and this number five will bring it good luck.'
With its clean lines and transparent glass, the bottle was a minimalist masterpiece and a complete departure from the vials other perfumers were using. Many believe it was a homage to the whisky decanter used by her lover, Captain Arthur Edward 'Boy' Capel.
Chanel invited Beaux and friends to a popular upmarket restaurant on the French Riviera to celebrate its creation and decided to spray the perfume around the table. Each woman that passed stopped and asked what the fragrance was and where it came from. The formula, imbued with jasmine, rose, sandalwood, vanilla, and aldehydes that give the perfume its distinctive 'clean' scent, reminiscent of soap, was an instant hit. In Chanel's own words, 'it was what I was waiting for. A perfume like nothing else. A woman's perfume, with the scent of a woman.'
One hundred years later, and it's still the most-coveted perfume ever created. Bon Anniversaire, Chanel No. 5!
Chanel Eau De Parfum Spray 50ml, £86, Harvey Nichols
Chanel Eau De Parfum Purse Spray 3x20ml, £105, Harvey Nichols