Chanel No 5: Retrospective {Fragrant Reading} {Scented Images & Perfume Adverts}

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1921 advert by Sem for Chanel No. 5 - Doesn't it say in a nutshell how ideal this perfume is? It floats in the sky and the élégante is looking up to it. "Mademoiselle Chanel et le parfum no. 5" © ADAGP

 

There is an interesting dossier on Joyce.fr offering a retrospective of the history of Chanel No. 5. The images are well-worth discovering. As zakuski, we have selected three that we thought were particularly captivating. The top one is the first advert for Chanel no. 5 drawn by Sem in 1921 (see also the Sem candles issued by Maxim's of Paris). The ad with actress Carole Bouquet dated 1997 and photographed by Dominique Issemann is the sexiest we have seen with her....

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Carole Bouquet photographed by Dominique Issemann, 1997 © Chanel 
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Jasmine growers in Grasse weighing the precious blooms of Jasminum Grandiflorum. Chanel has special privileges with certain growers who reserve them their harvests. © Chanel

 

Finally, we picked a picture of jasmine growers in Grasse showing their harvest and weighing a basket of it in front of in-house perfumer Jacques Polge. Yes, there are real flowers going into the composition of Chanel No. 5 which are carefully cultivated in the south of France. Get the pure parfum version to appreciate fully the addition of Grasse jasmine and May rose into this legendary composition.

Read more.... 

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5 Comments | Leave a comment

  1. Wow, what a change in attitude about the fragrance can be seen through the ad campaigns. I admit I am genuinely surprised by the images for chanel 5 being shown with sporty images. I admit the first 1921 advertisement and the Estella Warren one's are my favorite.

    Jennifer
  2. Oh yes, the Estella Warren one is spectacular. I note in passing that it looks close to the aesthetics and movement in the ad for the new Zen by Shiseido (in a gold bottle), or rather the reverse should be noted.

    Marie-Helene
  3. any knowledge on quart size bottle of chanel No.5? I have unopened bottle still in box w/price marked $60. any input would be apriciated! thank you, Annemarie

    annemarie mcmanus
  4. Hi i and my class did a national history day project for our school and my friends did a project on the perfume of who made it and it came out great! I just what to know somthing did she make other perfumes other then Chanel no.5?

    melissa
    • Yes, Gabrielle Chanel "did" other perfumes such as No. 19, No. 22, Bois des Iles, Sycomore and more. If she contributed to the creative process around the scents, she did not compose them herself as she was not a perfumer but a fashion designer. Ernest Beaux composed Chanel No. 5. Having said that, Chanel had ideas of her own as to how one of her perfumes ought to smell like :) She was more like an artistic director for fragrances.

      Chant Wagner

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