They say a bottle of CHANEL N°5 is sold every 30 seconds, if this is true or not I do not know but for any perfume to have remained at the height of popularity for over 90 years now says a lot. Coco Chanel wanted to challenge the status quo and create a fragrance that truly embodied a woman and contained more than a single floral scent like many of the other perfumes of that era.
Working with perfumer Ernest Beaux the scent was finalized in late summer of 1920. He came to her with several viles of perfumes, labeled 1-5 and 20-24. Chanel then chose vile no 5 to be the scent that would outlast many others. She had also told Ernest, "I present my dress collections on the fifth of May, the fifth month of the year and so we will let this sample number five keep the name it has already, it will bring good luck" (Gabrielle Chanel).
And luck it brought her, CHANEL N°5 quickly rose to popularity and became an icon along with Marilyn Monroe when she mentioned in an interview that all she wears to bed is N°5 . She was also photographed applying CHANEL N°5 for Redbook Magazine by photographer Ed Feingersh in 1955.
At this point, there seems to be nothing stopping this fragrance and I have a feeling that N°5 will be around for many years to come.
Evolution of the CHANEL N°5 Bottle:
Marilyn Monroe applying CHANEL N°5:
