Each year Allure Magazine hosts a Reader’s Choice Award and this year, Chanel N˚5 won Best Classic Fragrance. This should come as no surprise as Chanel N˚5 has been making waves since it debuted on May 5, 1921. Perhaps the most famous fragrance in the world, a bottle of Chanel N˚5 is sold every 55 seconds. (Stephen Brook, Guardian.co.uk). No other perfume has gained the iconic status of Chanel N˚5 and it’s easy to see why it would win the Best Classic Fragrance award.
The winners of the Fragrance Foundation’s FiFi Awards were announced and Chanel N˚5’s “No.5: Train de nuit” won the award for Best Media Campaign. As you may recall, the campaign for Chanel N˚5 feautured French ingénue Audrey Tautou and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who directed her in her breakthrough film, “Amélie.”
The campaign certainly deserves this honor as it was the best media campaign I have seen for a fragrance. Not only was the film beautiful, but all of the correlative marketing materials – from the website to print ads – were gorgeous and evocative of the classic Chanel N˚5 scent.
You can view Chanel’s “No.5: Train de nuit” below:
Coco Chanel is a fashion icon but what launched her into fashion cult status is the worldwide popularity of her signature scent, Chanel No.5. The house of Chanel has released countless fragrances – one more compelling than the next. I personally love Coco Mademoiselle, Allure, Chanel No.5 Sensual Elixir and my current favorite Beige.
Nylon TV’s Factory Girl paid a visit to the famed Chanel Perfume Lab where “all the magic happens” to sit down and chat with famed “nose” (i.e., perfumer) Jacques Polge. So jealous! I want her job! Watch the video below …
Chanel is having an “avant premiere” or early premier of their newest scent, Chance Eau Tendre. The second variation of Chance, Eau Tendre was created by Chanel Master Perfumer Jacques Polge and is a “constellation that is a whirlwind of tender and vibrant notes. . . This incarnation of the decidedly young scent revealing itself to be both delicate and airy, with an intoxicatingly light, fruity trail.”
Chanel Chance Eau Tendre is available on the newly revamped Chanel website.
Martin Scorses Directs Chanel Men's Fragrance Ad Starting Gaspard Ulliel
A month ago I reported that Martin Scorsese was spotted at Moto in Brooklyn shooting a new Chanel ad campaign. Word has just surfaced that the ad he was filming was for Chanel’s new men’s fragrance. The ad features French actor Gaspard Ulliel.
Andrea D’Avack, president of Chanel Fragrance and Beauté, stated that “The ads have been shot in New York, the city which is so inherently part of Martin Scorsese’s cinematographic vocabulary.” (WWD)
Chanel has a long history of working with acclaimed film directors from Baz Luhrmann (with muse Nicole Kidman) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (with mus Audrey Tautou ), both for Chanel No.5 at different times.
Chanel works with movie directors because they bring depth, emotion and what we call in French ‘a supplement of soul,’ or an added dimension,” said D’Avack, pointing to films such as “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” and “Goodfellas” as examples of Scorsese’s vision. “In the case of Martin Scorsese, we knew we would definitely have a man’s world full of complexity that is also adrenaline-driven, and of course, amazing images. (WWD)
This is the first men’s ad of its kind that I will see and I’m looking forward to it! I love Martin Scorsese and I think he’s a wonderful choice to film a men’s fragrance ad. He’ll be able to capture the essence of “man” without coming off as to macho – can’t wait to see!
A little birdie told me about these on Etsy and I was smitten the moment I saw them. This one of a kind set of nesting dolls is made from clips from vintage Playboy magazines. The vintage ads are decoupaged on nesting dolls and there are 5 in all – but of course! You can purchase this unique set on Etsy for $100 – the perfect gift for the Chanelphile in your life.
Chanel N˚5
Today, the most iconic fragrance of all time, Chanel N˚5 is seeing the release of an “authorized biography” – Histoire du No.5 Chanel, Un Numéro Intemporel (in English, Story of Chanel No.5, A Timeless Number). The bio is written in French, by François Ternon, and is releasing today in France, Belgium and Switzerland. The book takes us through the development of Chanel N˚5, and includes a discussion of the scent’s 2 creators Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel and Ernest Beaux. The best part? The house of Chanel supplied 32 illustrated pages – I wonder if they include some of Coco’s original sketches? No word yet on if, and when, this will release stateside so for now, I guess I’ll have to learn French!
Chanel N˚5
Saks Fifth Avenue and Chanel are celebrating the launch of the new Chanel N˚5 campaign today in an extravagant way that would make Coco proud. The most iconic of Avenues – 5th Avenue – is being renamed Avenue N˚5 from May 2 – 10.
When Chanel N˚5 was first released, it made its debut on May 5th (5.5). I thought that Mlle. was so clever to have the date match her signature fragrance. Today, not only is Chanel N˚5 launched on the same day (eighty-eight years to the day), but renaming 5th Avenue – a street synonymous with fashion, luxury and elegance – is too clever!
“In our celebration of Chanel N˚5’s newest camapaign, we wanted to recognize Chanel’s longstanding relationship with Saks and engage our customer in the fragrance with a complete visual fantasy. We are even more delighted that the city is joining us in recognizing Chanel.” says Ron Frasch, President and Chief Merchandising Officer, Saks Fifth Avenue.
This is not just a marketing scheme – it’s official. The City of New York has officially declared May 5, 2009, Chanel N˚5 Day. To show their gratitude, Chanel and Saks Fifth Avenue and have partnered to create a new arts program P.S.5, the Ellen Lurie Elementary School. The funds will be used to create after school programs & supplies and fund field trips to museums and cultural institutions. This too, is completely true to Coco Chanel’s philosophy as she was an avid supporter of the arts.
“We are honored to partner with the city of New York and Saks Fifth Avenue to name May 5th ‘Chanel N˚5 Day,’” says John Galantic, President and COO of Chanel, Inc. “We are pleased to share the excitement of this iconic product with New York on this symbolic day in our brand’s history.”
If you’re in NYC you must check out the Saks Fifth Avenue – the windows and the interiors are getting a lots of visual treatment. The 17 windows along Avenue N˚5 will feature still shots from the Chanel N˚5 film Train de Nuit (starting Audrey Tautou) along with pieces from the current Chanel ready-to-wear collection. If I were in NY I would definitely take a stroll down Avenue N˚5 - while wearing Chanel N˚5 on Chanel N˚5 day.
I now have a new favorite holiday – HAPPY CHANEL N˚5 DAY!!
Les Exclusifs de Chanel is a collection of fragrances that recalls a place, moment or theme that played an important role to Mlle. Chanel’s life. All of the fragrances are available in only one size and concentration, 200ml size of eau de toilette. They are light fragrances that are meant to be spritzed liberally in a decadent fashion. Existing fragrances include Gardenia, Coromandel, Bel Respiro, and 31, rue Cambon. The newest scent in the Les Exclusifs de Chanel Collection is Beige, the neutral color that Chanel single-handedly made chic. Chanel once said, “I take refuge in beige because it’s natural.“ Created by legendary “nose” Jacques Polge, this fragrance is everything that Chanel loved about her favorite color: it’s natural, light, elegant and sexy all at once.
While visiting the Chanel Ultra-Luxe Boutique, Ruby the sales associate, told me about Beige and how it was the newest in the series. She also told me that most stores and the website didn’t even have it yet. Ruby didn’t know it, but I had been on the hunt for a new fragrance for some time. I had been wearing the same perfume, Samsara by Guerlain, since I was 18. I’ve worn some other fragrances here and there during the past 16 years, all of them Chanel including Allure, Coco Mademoiselle and No. 5 Elixir Sensuel. All of those scents, including Samsara, can be a bit heavy at times so I was looking for something a bit fresher. One whiff of Beige and I instantly found my new scent. Beige is light, with notes of “hawthorne, freesia, frangipani, honey, white petals and yellow gold.” I bought it that day in February and I’ve been wearing it everyday since. Beige is now available in Chanel boutiques and will debut soon on the Chanel website. The 200ml size retails for $190.
Yep! More Chanel news! Around 70s years after it first appeared, the Chanel Sycomore fragrance is back on the shelves of high-end cosmetic stores.
Chanel Sycomore was first mixed by Ernest Beaux (best known for creating Chanel No. 5, perhaps the world’s most famous perfume) for Coco Chanel in the 1930s and was originally described as a ‘woody’ scent with ‘balsamic notes’. it’s now been re-created by perfumer Jacques Polge as part of Chanel’s rare perfume collection, adding a hint of sandalwood, cypress, juniper and pink pepper.
If those descriptions mean absolutely nothing to you, it might be worth nipping to your local store for a blast.
Find out more at the Chanel website
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