It can’t be easy reimagining the most famous fragrance in the world – so: Chanel straw boaters off to Olivier Polge, sort-of-new in-house perfumer, for this dazzling take on the iconic fragrance.
This isn’t just a ‘tweak’, though. According to Chanel: ‘No.5 L’Eau is not a Cologne. Nor is it a diluted version of the original fragrance for, at Chanel, each variation is a genuine olfactory creation. No.5 L’Eau is the No.5 of today.’
And truly, it smells modern. Fresh. (Dazzlingly so, powered out of the so-familiar bottle on a cannon-burst of aldehydes.)
Citrusy mandarin, lemon, bergamot and orange boost the freshness, in the top notes. The famous heart’s intact – but now cedarwood and sandalwood hum in the base.
To accompany the launch – and the print ad. campaign with Lily-Rose Depp – we invite you to watch these two short teasers for full-length commercials which will appear later this year.
We’ve spritzed Chanel No.5 L’Eau on all sorts of people who profess that ‘I’m not a Chanel No.5 person’ – and are converted. We’ve also had friends who’ve come within air-kissing distance comment: ‘Oh, what’s that you’re wearing. It’s familiar – but I can’t quite make it out…’
As the slogan goes: ‘You know me. But you don’t know me.’
Whoever on Chanel‘s marketing team came up with that utterly nailed it.
By Jo Fairley
