Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Outsourcing the Perfume

Chanel at her perfume "lab" testing for No. 5

I wrote yesterday about the aggressively ugly clothing designs of Martin Margiela, but was surprised at his perfume's subtle, pretty scent (despite its unimaginative "avant-garde" bottle and name).

I looked up the "perfumer" of the scent, since he is often different from the designer who puts it under his label, and sure enough it is Daniela Andrier, who also creates the successful Prada perfume line.

This is becoming a common trend in fashion design, where different aspects of the line (usually not related to the clothing) are outsourced to other designers. But, this wasn't always the case. Chanel was intricately involved in the creation of her famous, and most successful, perfume, No. 5. Interestingly, No. 5 was also the "clinical" label of the final test tube sample that would be her perfume.

Above is a scene from Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky. Chanel is smelling sample vial No. 5 with her "clinician" at her at her perfume lab. This is the sample she chose for her famous perfume, which she named after the vial's number. The ingredients were under her specifications, which she modified with her assistant, and included roses cultivated at the famous flower farm in Grasse.