The Secret of Chanel No. 5 (31 page)

Charabot, 97

Charles-Roux, Edmonde, 6, 68–69, 184

Charlie (perfume), 43

Charvet, 102

Château Crémat, 107

Chemische Fabrik Flora, 168

Chiris:
Coty's loyalty to, 117
distillery process developed by, 144–45
Rallet as part of, 54, 96, 105
taken over by Coty, 69–70

Chiris, Louis, 144

Choix
(Iribe), 127

Churchill, Winston, 160, 161

Chypre (Chanel perfume), 109

Chypre de Coty (perfume), 42–43

Chypre de Limassol (perfume), 42

Chypre de Paris (perfume), 42

chypre perfumes, 40, 42–43
accords in, 43
as oldest perfume family, 42

cinnamaldehyde, 64

Cistercian orders, 5, 6, 8–9

civet cats, musk from, 80, 208

Claude, Queen of France, 107

cleanliness, as Coco's preferred scent, 8, 21, 37, 46

Cleopatra, 40

Coco (perfume), 202

Coco Avant Chanel
(film), 201

Coco Mademoiselle (perfume), 202

Cocteau, Jean, 127

Collier's,
126, 156

concretes, production of floral, 143–45

Cool Water (perfume), 41

cosmetics industry, advertising in, 188–89

Côte d'Azur, 143

Coty, Christiane, 157–58

Coty, Elizabeth, 33

Coty, François, 25, 29–30, 32, 44, 54, 94, 157, 158
Chypre introduced by, 42–43
Coco's competition with, 70, 106, 117–18
as inspiration for Coco, 30, 81, 92
and origins of Chanel No. 5, 68–69
strategy for challenging Chanel No. 5, 117–18

Coty, Henri, 157–58

Coty, Inc., 29–30, 114, 147, 174
Chiris takeover by, 69–70
as perfume powerhouse, 103–4
perfumes from,
see specific perfumes

Coty, Yvonne, 30, 32, 69

coumarin, 41, 115

couturiers and designers:

perfumes launched by, 25–27, 59, 92, 122–23
see also specific couturiers and designers

Crawford, Joan, 126

Cristal Baccarat, 101

cuir de Russie,
42

Cuir de Russie (perfume), 167, 202

d'Alençon, Émilienne, 18
scent used by, 18, 20–21, 37

Darzens, Georges, 62, 67

Davidoff, perfume house of, 41

Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster
(Thomas), 193–94, 200

de Medici, Catherine, 31, 107–8

de Medici, Marie:
manuscript of, 31, 32, 33, 53
and roots of French perfume industry, 31–32

demi-monde:
Coco as part of, 16–18, 33–34, 88–90, 184
divide between respectability and, 18, 33–34
as note in Chanel marketing, 201

Deneuve, Catherine, 198–99, 200, 208

department stores:
marketing driven by, 123
see also specific stores

de Villemessant, Henri, 81

Diaghilev, Sergei, 127

Dior, perfume house of, 42, 43

Dirys, Jeanne, 127

Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia, Grand Duke, 49–53, 126
childhood scents recalled by, 52, 55, 71, 72, 215
in exile, 50–51, 52
in Rasputin murder plot, 49–50

d'Obazine, Étienne, Saint, 5, 7, 10, 17

Donne, John, 79

D'Orsay, perfume house of, 114

Dumas, Alexandre, 10

Eau Première (perfume), as update of Chanel No. 5, 203

economy, U.S., during Roaring Twenties, xiv-xv

Einstein, Albert, xiv

Elizabeth Arden, 147

Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, Grand Duchess, 49, 51

Emeraude (perfume), 84

enfleurage,
144

esters, 78

Eternity (perfume), xiii

Fabergé, 54

Fahrenheit (perfume), 42

fashion:
Coco as arbiter of, 45–46, 86, 116, 126, 137, 182
Coco's millinery beginning in, 23–25, 127, 185
during Great Depression, 120
personal style as factor in, 93
of Roaring Twenties, 22, 45–46
see also
couturiers

Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 48, 109, 156

floral-aldehydric, Chanel No. 5 as first, 67

floral perfumes, 40
considered less respectable, 18, 20, 44
considered respectable, 20, 34, 44
quality materials needed for, 43
re-imagined by Coco, 43–45
soliflore style, 43–44

floral scents:
balance of aldehydes with, 66, 71
in Chanel No. 5,
see
Chanel No. 5 formula
as head notes, 78

Floramye (perfume), aldehydes first used in, 67

flowers:
at Aubazine Abbey, 7, 10
symbolism of, 10

Fontaine, Anne, 201

Forbes,
175

Forces of the French Interior, 155

fougére perfumes, 40, 41

Fougére Royale (perfume), 41

fragrance:
compounds, 78
see also
perfumes; scent

France:
Depression-era economy of, 120
luxury industry in, 113–16, 120
Nazi occupation of, 139–40, 151–55, 166, 185

frankincense, 79
in oriental perfumes, 40

French Resistance, 140, 155, 157

fruits verts,
21–22, 137
see also garçonnes
style

Galeries Lafayette, 92, 123, 148

Garbo, Greta, 125

garçonnes
style, 22, 27, 45–46, 137
see also fruits verts

gardenia, as respectable scent, 44

geraniol, 44

Germany, rise of Nazi Party in, 134

Gibbons, Cedric, 126

Givaudan, Léon, 173

Goebbels, Joseph, 166

Goldwyn, Sam, 125, 126

Goude, Jean-Paul, 200

Goursat, Georges “Sem,” 27

grande horizontales,
18, 201
see also demi-monde

Grasse, France:
floral materials from, 43, 54, 65, 141–46, 195
as fragrance capital, 31–32, 142–46
jasmine smuggled out of, 141–46, 206

Great Britain, Chanel production facilities in, 166

Great Depression, 118, 119, 154
Hollywood influence during, 125–26
luxury marketing during, 119–21, 124

Grey Flannel (perfume), 41

Groom, Nigel, 31

Guerlain, perfume house of, 141

Guerlain, Aimé, 40

Guerlain, Jacques, 40, 42, 114, 115, 174

Haedrich, Marcel, 175

head notes, 78

heart notes, 78

Heilbronn, Max, 135, 140, 155

heliotropine, 40

Helleu, Jacques, 102, 106
Chanel marketing vision of, 197–99

Helleu, Jean, 102, 105–6, 197

Hemingway, Ernest, 120, 156

Henry II, King of France, 31

Hermès, perfume house of, 200

Hollywood:
Chanel as designer for, 125, 126–27, 128–29, 132, 190, 199
first talkies from, 119
luxury goods pushed by, 125–26

honeysuckle, 79

Houbigant, perfume house of, 41, 55, 114
multiflores introduced by, 44–45

Imperial Porcelain Factory, 54

indole, 79

International Fragrance Association (IFRA), 205–7, 211

ionones, 44

Iribe, Maybelle, 127

Iribe, Paul:
anti-Semitism of, 134
Coco's affair with, 127–28
as Coco's representative at Les Parfums Chanel meetings, 134–35
death of, 136, 137
political views and activities of, 127, 128, 134

Iris Gris (perfume), 174

iris root, in Chanel No. 5, 71

Jacobson's Organ
(Watson), 78

jasmine:
absolutes of, 145, 146
Chanel agreement with Mul's for, 210–11
in Chanel No. 5, 60, 61, 65–66, 71, 76, 79, 205–6, 208, 210–11
cross-breeding of, 211
as erotic scent, 18, 20, 44, 76
from Grasse, 43, 141–46, 166, 195, 205, 206, 210–11
IFRA regulations regarding, 205–7, 211
production decline of, 195, 210–11
as scent at Russian court, 52

Jasmophore, 71

Jay Thorpe, 118

Jellinek, Paul, 79

Jeunet, Jean-Pierre, 201

Jicky (perfume), 40

Joy (perfume), 43
cost of, 124
scent consistency over time of, 209
scent salon for, 124

Joyce, James, 120

ketones, 78, 209

Kidman, Nicole, 201

Kitmar, textile house of, 51–52

Klein, Calvin, 40

Knights Templar, 8

Knowing (perfume), 43

"Ko Ko Ri Ko” (song), 88–89

labdanum, 19, 79

La Dame aux Camélias
(Dumas), 10

La Garçonne
(Margueritte), 21

L'Aimant (perfume), as reinterpretation of Chanel No. 5, 69, 118, 173

L'Air du Temps (perfume), 43

La Jolie Parfumeuse,
14–15, 18

Lalique, René:
1925 Paris Expo fountain designed by, 114
perfume bottles designed by, 103

L'Ami du Peuple,
158

Lancôme, 42

Lanoma, 148

La Piscine,
199

La Rose Jacqueminot (perfume), 44, 81, 103

La Rotonde, 14

La Star,
199

La Traviata
(Verdi), 10

Lauder, Estée, 43, 141, 150

lavender, accords containing, 41

leather perfumes, 40, 41–42

Le Bouquet de Catherine (perfume),
see
Rallet No. 1

Le Bouquet de Napoléon (perfume), 55

Le Dix (perfume), 117

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie),
201

Le Figaro,
158

legacy perfumes, xiii, 209

Lelong, Lucien, 122, 137

Le Minaret (perfume), 26

Le No. 9 (perfume), 117

Lenthéric, house of, 114, 122

les années folles,
48, 154
see also
Roaring Twenties

lesbianism, as bohemian fashion, 21

Les Grands Magasins, 81, 92

Les Parfums Chanel:
Beaux at, 97, 100, 117, 210
bottle design ordered by, 104, 105
Coco voted off board of, 135–36
Coty's plans to challenge, 117–18
establishment of, 91–97, 132
expansion of Chanel No. 5 product line by, 121–22, 133–34, 148–49
expansion during World War II of, 147–50
Jewish partners wartime exile from, 140, 141–46, 150, 151–54, 185
legal battles at, 133–34, 136–37, 138, 151–54, 162, 169, 170, 171–72, 176–77, 195
marketing of Chanel No. 5 by,
see
Chanel No. 5, marketing and advertising of
missing from 1925 Paris Exposition, 113–16
multiple Chanel perfumes of, 108–9, 112
partnership tensions at, 122, 129, 132–36, 141, 166–67, 168, 169–70, 176–77
renegotiation of Coco's contract with, 176–77, 183–85, 195
and Wertheimers' return to France, 167
Wertheimers' sale to Amiot of shares in, 151–54, 185

Lewy, Claude, 176

L'Exposition Internationale des
Arts Décoratifs et Industriels
Modernes (1925), 113–16, 120, 126
economic impact on designers of, 120
marketing trends launched at, 123–24
perfume pavilion at, 114–15, 123–24

Lights of New York, The,
119

lilac, as respectable scent, 44

lilies, as respectable scent, 44

L'Illustration,
117

Lindbergh, Charles, xv, 119

L'invitation au rêve,
199

Little Red Riding Hood
campaign, 200–201

Liù (perfume), 174

Lombardi, Vera, 160

London Daily Mail,
xiii-xiv

Louis XV, King of France, 19

Lurhmann, Baz, 201

Mademoiselle Chanel fragrance line, creation of, 165, 167–77, 202

Mademoiselle Chanel No. 1 (perfume), 165, 168
perfumer behind, 172–74
Rallet No. 1 as basis for, 172–74
reformulated as Chanel No. 19, 202
as “super” Chanel No. 5, 169, 170, 172, 173

Mademoiselle Chanel No. 2 (perfume), 165, 168

Mademoiselle Chanel No. 31 (perfume), 165, 168, 169

Madoux, Georges, 152

Malhame, Bichara, 42

Mao Tse-Tung, 186

Marcus, Stanley, 171

Margueritte, Victor, 21

Maria Pavlovna of Russia, Grand Duchess, 49, 51–52

Marilyn,
200

marketing
of Chanel No. 5,
see
Chanel No. 5, marketing and advertising of
changes in perfume industry, 123–25
of Coty's perfumes, 81
driven by department stores, 123
of luxury during Great Depression, 119–21, 124
mid-century shifts in, 188–91

marketing
(cont.)
of perfumes during World War II, 147–50
of Poiret's signature scents, 26–27

Matisse, Henri, 13

memory, scent linked to, 52, 90–91, 102, 210

Meyer, Raoul, 135, 140

Miss Dior (perfume), 43

Mitsouko (perfume), 182

Modern Dancing
(Castle and Castle), 27

Molyneux, Edward, 83–85, 86, 114

Monoprix, 148

Mon Parfum (perfume), 93

Monroe, Marilyn, xiv, xvi, 186, 190, 198, 200

Monument,
199

Morand, Paul, 57

Moulin Rouge,
201

Moulins sur Allier, France, 13–17

Mudyug Island, 56

multiflores, 55, 70–71
Chanel No. 5 as standout, 65–66
introduction of, 44–45

Mumm, Theodore, 159–60

Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), xvi-xvii, 187

musk ketone, 209

musks:
as bottom notes, 78
as erotic scent, 18, 20, 79–80
in oriental perfumes, 40
origin of, 80
synthetic, 208–9
used in Chanel No. 5, 71, 76

myrrh, 79

Napoléon, Emperor of France, 2, 10, 44

Neiman Marcus, 171

New York, N.Y.:
perfume market in, 111–12
during Roaring Twenties, xiv

New York Times,
xvii, 112, 132, 171
Chanel's obituary in, 196

Nicholas II, Czar of Russia, 49, 50, 51

Nips, 187

Nuit Persane (perfume), 26, 123

number five, as Coco's talisman, 9–10, 11, 60–61, 82, 84

numbers, as symbolic, 8–10, 60–61

Numéro Cinq (perfume), 84–85

oakmoss, in fougére accord, 41

Obsession (perfume), 40

Offenbach, Jacques, 15

Old Spice Cologne, 40

Opium (perfume), 40

orange blossom, 79

oriental perfumes, 40–41

Our Dancing Daughters,
126

Pantin, France, Chanel production facilities in, 166