“I want to create a perfume so special that none has done before, a scent for a woman that smells like a woman” - this is how Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel has defined her aesthetics of scents.

At its launch in 1921, Chanel No 5 marked and revolutionized the fragrance industry's three aspects: scent, bottle and name. Chanel No 5 was the first abstract fragrance, that haven't intended to reproduce scents found in nature but to create a state of mind.

“I want to give women an artificial perfume,” said Chanel. “Yes, I really do mean artificial, like a dress, something that has been made. I don’t want any rose or lily of the valley, I want a perfume that is a composition.”

  

It was the very first perfume with minimal packaging – its design was expressing perfectly the Chanel aesthetics, without the floral embellishments of that period.

It was the first fragrance that wasn't named after a poetic sintagm, but a number.
This was the result when the boldness of the designer and the dream of a perfumer have met – a scent that comes alive with every move of the wearer. Mademoiselle Chanel succeeded again in breaking the mold, while Ernest Beaux, the perfumer has innovated the fragrance industry. Beaux was trying to combine the metallic intensity of the synthetic ingredients with noble and precious natural essences.