You can smell the perfume, but you can’t see it. Experience both at Le Grand Numéro de Chanel, Chanel’s latest fragrance exhibition in Paris. The exhibition combines cabaret, live music, art installations, fashion exhibitions from the archives and an immersion in virtual his reality to offer a range of experiences that will tickle the hearts of perfume lovers and perfume explorers alike. (We have a feeling Emily in Paris will definitely be the first to visit).
In real life, celebrities such as Sadie Sink, Keira Knightley and Marion Cotillard have visited the exhibition. Sink told me: In this exhibition, slowly, you can get a better understanding of all the details. Case in point: Main Inside her room, an interpretive dancer can be found twisting and twirling with a bottle of Chanel N°5 (and even a magician). As you head into small break rooms, each adorned with a major Chanel fragrance, you’ll experience a card game, a live-action chess game, and a fragrance psychoanalyst who can match scents based on your personality. All very suitable for TikTok.
Elle spoke with Chanel perfumer Olivier Polge to learn more about the secrets of Chanel N°5 and the surprises you’ll uncover at the exhibition. The Paris exhibition, from now on he is available until January 9th. Book here.
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What do you think is the best way for someone to experience an exhibition?
Don’t be too preconceived. Be yourself and come with your own history and personality. Hopefully, you will discover different perfumes. Since we manufacture our own perfumes, we wanted people to actually experience the scents, aside from the visual aspect. In preparation for the exhibition, we thought about which perfumes and which ingredients to display. However, I’ve found that the best way to smell perfume is to avoid over-exposure to it. It’s dangerous to smell the whole room.
What is the “moderate amount” of perfume?
Can you smell 70 perfumes, or can you show me 10 or so that you remember best?
Did the exhibition surprise you?
What surprised me the most, seeing the exhibit for the first time yesterday, was the space and how big it was. We can’t wait to hear your comments. People are often very unaware of all the scents around them.
It is often said that you are writing a Chanel biography through fragrance. How do you think this exhibition contributes to telling that story?
Perfume and fashion are different worlds, [Gabrielle] Chanel was the first to come up with the perfume that bears her name. She saw it as another way of expressing herself: her own personality and style. My intention is never to tell or go too deep into history. Gabriel’s history is reflected in her style. People often ask me, “Where do you get your inspiration from?” I say Everything inspires you when you are creative. ” This is why I prefer to talk about style and history, but it’s probably a bit of the same. It’s a pity to ignore it.
We came up with the line Les Eaux de Chanel. I loved it. Because when we think of scent, we always think of people and places with scents. They are what anchor the scent in your mind. When I was thinking about scents, I realized that all those destinations evoke images, so I started building something in the style of Chanel. He traveled to Venice in the 1920s, where he probably developed his taste for Venetian art, often found in certain jewellery.
You said that perfume is a language. Do you come up with phrases and words when creating a scent?
oppose. I have nothing to say. Talking about perfume is difficult. Yes, the word for perfume is fragrance. they represent things. They put a mark on themselves that words cannot. I’m not saying it’s good. These are things we can’t explain, so I think it’s funny to say.
If the exhibition could talk, what do you think it would say?
If the exhibition can speak, I hope it will teach you things you didn’t know.
I used to work with Karl Lagerfeld and now I work with Virginie Viard. How would you describe the difference in your approach to scent and how you think about it?
They are so different that it’s hard to see duplicates. Karl was very passionate about perfume. The last time I saw him, he was afraid he would tell me about perfumes I didn’t know. He knew every perfume on the market for the last 50 years.I’m exaggerating a bit, but in his early life he worked with or for [Jean] When Patu was young, Patu came up with many perfumes. He knew about perfumes that no longer existed, so he was quite an expert.
What do you think is the main timelessness of Chanel N°5?
First of all, it’s a great perfume with an identity that you quickly sort through. I said that I wanted [and] Perhaps more mysterious.
There’s something about Chanel N°5 that I don’t understand. I think it goes beyond raw materials. N°5 is preserved in its original raw material. We have purchased specific jasmine fields to ensure we have the quantity of quality we need. I regularly work on new interpretations to bring something new to No°5, and I keep N°5 like a new perfume all the time, and that helps.
We also want to remember that Gabrielle Chanel herself was the first face of N°5. There was a picture of her in her first commercial. Then, in the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe said she only took a few drops of her N°5 at night. These are all beyond our plans.
Do you think Chanel’s other perfumes are artificial?
yes. When I say artificial I mean abstract – we don’t try to do Chanel Rose or Chanel Vetiver. To some extent, we can say that about all our perfumes. That’s what Chanel fragrances are all about. Another important point is this structured aspect (artificial), which extends to raw materials that are selected or transformed in the way they are extracted. We twist our natural identities. We never try to reproduce nature.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Kathleen Hou is Beauty Director for Elle Magazine.
