100 years of Chanel N°5

In 1929 it was the world's best-selling perfume, and today a bottle is still sold every 30 seconds.

In 1929 it was the best-selling perfume in the world and today a bottle is still sold every 30 seconds: the iconic scent Chanel N°5 blows out no fewer than 100 candles. Text: Larissa Schaule Jullens
Image: Chanel

May 5, 1929

Number five, created on the fifth of the fifth month. Gabrielle Chanel, the founder of the French fashion house Chanel, changed the perfume world forever on May 5, 1929. Gabrielle thought her maison could use a suitable luxury scent. A scent that would typify the modern and free-spirited woman. Chanel was not the first couture house to release its own fragrance, but she was the first female couturier with her own perfume.

N°5: detail and perfection

N°5 was created together with renowned perfumer Ernest Beaux. Although a simple rose scent was very popular at the time, Gabrielle strived for an exceptional scent that would not be comparable to any other perfume. In fact, the designer – with her eye for detail and perfection – wanted a perfume that would be designed just like her handmade clothes. And she succeeded. Gabrielle created an extravagant and luxurious scent, but the image had to be conveyed in a minimalist way. The simpler, the more women could identify with the perfume. Not a creative or special name, but a number. Gabrielle took her inspiration for the design from an apothecary bottle. The cap is designed on the shape of the geometric square Place Vendôme in Paris.

Iconic

It didn't take long for Chanel N°5 to become the best-selling perfume in the world in 1929. American soldiers took it with them as a souvenir for their loved ones after World War II. Icon Marilyn Monroe was a fan of the perfume and pop art artist Andy Warhol made a work of art from the bottle in 1985. The perfume appeared in several commercials during the Super Bowl and celebrities such as Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt were recently the face of N°5. What other fragrance in the world has survived a pandemic, world war and economic crisis? Chanel N°5 is more than a perfume, it is history in a bottle.