Chanel No.5

Plain presentation belies the sophistication of the world's most famous perfume

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THE 7 APRIL 1952 issue of Life magazine carried a feature on Hollywood's latest pulchritudinous blonde sensation and future legend, Marilyn Monroe. In the less politically correct environment of the day she was asked what she wore in bed. Reluctant to use the word 'nude' she responded with what ultimately was a far more erotically charged and memorable: 'I only wear Chanel No.5: A quote that has echoed down the years. Overnight, men at a loss for what to buy their wives/girlfriends/secretaries anniversary/Christmas/birthday found the perfect answer. Chanel No.5 became the default last-minute panic-buying gift, no doubt with more than one male hoping it might inspire the recipient to emulate Marilyn.

Now, 101 years since it was launched in 1922, Chanel No.5 remains, if not the biggest-selling perfume in the world, certainly the most famous. Curiously, it might not have come into being without the 1917 Russian Revolution because the fragrance was formulated by the French-Russian master perfumer Ernest Beaux. Born in Moscow in 1881, Beaux worked for A Rallet & Co, foremost supplier of toiletries and perfumes to the Imperial Russian Household, but following the Revolution many of Rallet's employees, including Beaux, fled to France.