olivier polge: 10 posts

Deauville doesn’t evoke a particular scent for me. The name of this resort town on the coast of Normandy mostly reminds me of A Man and A Woman, the 1966 French film starring the incomparable Anouk Aimée. I have visited Deauville several times but only for work, unlike most normal people who travel to Normandy on vacation. As a result, when I sprayed Chanel’s Paris-Deauville on my wrist, its fragrance made me bypass France entirely. Instead, it took me to Sicily.

I smelled the bitterness of orange peel and green leaves unfolding on my skin and I could almost feel the breeze from the Ionian sea and the bright flavor of orange granita. The hot stones and sun bleached grasses slowly enter the picture. And then before the fragrance even reveals its jasmine inflected heart, I already recall the opulence of blossoms in Aci Trezza, the rocky strip of the Riviera where Ulysses might have fought the Cyclops. My memory erases the misdeeds of the 1960s real estate developers, which make the Cyclops seem rather innocuous, and instead as I wear Paris-Deauville, I escape to visions of endless blue sea, cliffs, orange orchards and jasmine vines.

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The next big Chanel launch is a collection of three perfumes, Les Eaux de Chanel. Like Les Exclusifs, they are inspired by places that were meaningful to Chanel. Perfumer Olivier Polge has selected three destinations, Deauville, Venice and Biarritz, and created three stories around them. All three are meant to explore fresh and effervescent notes, but they play with different characters and effects. I will share more detailed reviews as I test the perfumes carefully, and for now just a few general notes the collection.

PARIS-DEAUVILLE

Gabrielle Chanel opened her first boutique in Deauville on the Normandy coast in 1912.

“More than the actual reality of the destination, I liked the idea urbanites make of it when they dream of a
weekend away in the country. I wasn’t striving to capture the Normandy countryside as it stands today, but rather
the promise of a stroll through the tall grasses.” Olivier Polge

The fragrance is green, with the brightness of bitter orange rind, petitgrain and basil leaves. It’s accented with rose and jasmine, but the drydown has a layer of patchouli that gives it a chypre-like impression.

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Although sometimes I’m prone to romanticizing the golden days of perfumery–that vague time in the past when regulations and profitability didn’t shape the industry the way they do today, I’m not a traditionalist. Tastes change, and I don’t expect that young people today want to wear only fragrances created 100 years ago, just as the children of those whose wear Lancôme La Vie est Belle and Bleu de Chanel might reject their parents’ choices. Yes, a day of “vintage” La Vie est Belle will come. This is why I don’t object to the reworks of classics, such as Chanel No. 5 L’Eau, provided that the brand keeps the original intact and interprets the “young and trendy” theme in an interesting manner.

L’Eau is an attempt by Chanel to draw a younger, trendier audience to No. 5. Although I smell enough of No. 5 on women in their twenties in Paris and notice its constant presence in the top 10 best sellers, it is still somewhat of a cult favorite. L’Eau goes for wider appeal.

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Misia Sert and Coco Chanel shared deep affection for each other. Sert comforted Chanel when her lover Arthur Boy Capel died in a car accident. She inspired the designer and introduced her to a glittering circle of artists, writers and musicians. Misia’s salon in Paris attracted such luminaries as Marcel Proust, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Odilon Redon, Paul Signac, Claude Debussy, Stéphane Mallarmé, and André Gide. She was a talented pianist, captured by Toulouse-Lautrec at the piano, but she was also a cultural icon and a muse. In this last role, the spirit of Sert returns to the house of Chanel in the form of a new perfume, Misia.

Imagine a vintage silk purse that still holds the aroma of violet bonbons, rose scented lipstick and rice powder. This, in a phrase, is Misia. Tender and romantic, the fragrance settles on skin in a soft powdery layer, and if it suddenly makes you feel like painting your lips a retro crimson and watching The Red Shoes, I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s a perfect vintage vignette fantasy.

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Chanel is introducing a new fragrance to Les Exclusifs de Chanel collection. Misia, in honor of Coco Chanel’s friend and muse Misia Sert. Her salon in Paris attracted such luminaries as Marcel Proust, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Odilon Redon, Paul Signac, Claude Debussy, Stéphane Mallarmé, and André Gide, and Misia was painted by Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard. Her friendship with Chanel developed as she helped Coco grieve the death of her lover Arthur Capel in 1918, and the two women sustained a lasting bond.

The perfume is a blend of woody-gourmand and powdery floral notes. Iris root, Turkish rose, rose from Grasse, violet, tonka bean, benzoin and sandalwood form the composition. Created by Olivier Polge, it’s his first for Chanel as he assumes the in-house perfumer title alongside his father, Jacques Polge.

75 and 200 ml Eau de Toilette will be available at Chanel boutiques and concessions starting March 2015. Via press release