Chanel No. 5, launched in 1921. (Credit: bigstock)
Before she was a couturière, Gabrielle Chanel was an abandoned child. When her mother died in 1895, she was only 12 years old. A few months later, her father placed his daughters in the orphanage at the abbey of Aubazine and never came back for her. She spent six years there, in an austere setting that left a lasting mark. The sober palette of her collections — black, white, beige — was inspired by the nun's habits. It was on the convent's mosaic floor that she noticed a number that would stay with her forever: 5. Superstitious, she made it one of her lucky charms.Years later, in 1921, already famous for her clean lines, she decided to apply the same philosophy to perfume. She turned to Ernest Beaux, former perfumer to the court of the tsars, and asked him to create a fragrance "artificial like a dress — that is to say,...
Before she was a couturière, Gabrielle Chanel was an abandoned child. When her mother died in 1895, she was only 12 years old. A few months later, her father placed his daughters in the orphanage at the abbey of Aubazine and never came back for her. She spent six years there, in an austere setting that left a lasting mark. The sober palette of her collections — black, white, beige — was inspired by the nun's habits. It was on the convent's mosaic floor that she noticed a number that would stay with her forever: 5. Superstitious, she made it one of her lucky charms.Years later, in 1921, already famous for her clean lines, she decided to apply the same philosophy to perfume. She turned to Ernest Beaux, former perfumer to the court of the tsars, and asked him to create a fragrance "artificial like a dress — that is to...
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