Brimming with emotions and sensations, fragrance is a language. It can at times, more so than words, reveal a facet of the person who wears it, uncovering a fragment of their story, and sharing a precious secret in a singular fragrance trail.
This is the spirit that symbolises the LES EXCLUSIFS DE CHANEL collection, an exceptional olfactory line and a luxurious expression of perfumery that resembles no other, composed of noble and frequently tailor-made materials. True secrets of the skin, each of these Eaux de Parfum reveals one of Gabrielle Chanel’s character traits, writing a page from her life, sketching the outlines of one of her designs, or illustrating a symbol that guided her steps. Recounting the woman and the designer, telling her own story as much as that of the House, these fragrances belong to a line of style and time specific to CHANEL. Beyond fashions, with neither age nor gender, they adhere to no creative pace, and listen only to the perfumer’s instinct, his sole intuition: «Fragrance at CHANEL is a state of mind. The expression of a style, an idea that go beyond the aesthetics of a raw material», confides CHANEL In-House Perfumer Creator Olivier Polge. Part mystery and elegance, part perfection and daring, LES EXCLUSIFS DE CHANEL welcome a 19th olfactory vision: COMÈTE.
“I WANTED TO COVER WOMEN IN CONSTELLATIONS. STARS!
(…) SEE THESE COMETS, WHERE THE HEAD GLITTERS ON A
SHOULDER, AND THE SPARKLING TAIL SLIPS BEHIND THE
SHOULDERS TO FALL BACK DOWN IN A SHOWER OF STARS
ON THE CHEST…”
Gabrielle Chanel
Olivier Polge sees his profession as a unique, both artisanal and artistic, experience, which has been integrated into CHANEL since the creation of the N°5 perfume in 1921. He finds, above all, an amazing lexicon that he strives to merge with the future. As the head of the CHANEL perfume creation and development laboratory, he ensures the continuity of legendary fragrances and imagines classic perfumes for tomorrow. He considers scents as unforgettable and recognizable essences that represent the spirit of the times without surrendering to short-term trends.
“At CHANEL, we use raw materials like a painter uses his palette”: This is one of the keys Olivier Polge added when he became the fourth perfumer creator in the house’s history in 2015. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Jacques Polge, who succeeded after navigating some twists in the history of art, training as a perfumer in Grasse until he gained international recognition in his profession, especially at International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), on both sides of the Atlantic.
As a teenager, Olivier Polge discovered the piano and was so fascinated by it that he continued to play daily, even though he is now passionate about different musical notes. “When I started learning the profession in my twenties, I discovered that music and perfumes share the same language. I had to compose and write formulas made up of notes and chords.”
This classic and essential aspect, sensitive and rigorous, appears in the harmonies of wood and shimmer that this passionate creator values in constructive dialogue with innovation. At CHANEL, he had already imagined about fifteen perfumes and appreciates the diversity of expression between different lines and collections like LES EXCLUSIFS DE CHANEL or LES EAUX DE CHANEL. He loves to reflect the style marks of CHANEL in perfumes, such as the contradiction between freedom and constraints, the relative mystery that separates males and females, and the complexity behind clear simplicity. He imagined the olfactory image of Messia and built a range of refreshing perfumes expressing the iconic facets of the house (PARIS-BIARRITZ, PARIS-VENISE, PARIS-DEAUVILLE, PARIS-RIVIERA).
To create the GABRIELLE CHANEL perfume, he prepared a collection of white flowers. And for the famous N°5 perfume, to create a new and contemporary version, N°5 L’EAU, Olivier Polge sought continuity in purity. The world of scents offers him a palette that he refines, transforms, and shapes “like a dress,” according to Mademoiselle Chanel’s principles, until his instinct tells him that the perfume is complete. And that the material has turned into art.
