1653) "Chanel No. 5" Centenary (1921-2021) France: La Poste France (French Post) has released a set of two Stamps of 1.08 Euro & 2.16 Euro to commemorate the milestone of the launch of the iconic French Perfume in 1921: Date of Stamps issue: 25.01.2021:
About CHANEL No. 5:
CHANEL is a French fashion house that focuses on women's high fashion and ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods and accessories.
Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921.
The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an important part of the product's allure.
Coco Chanel was the first face of the fragrance, appearing in the advertisement published by Harper's Bazaar in 1937.
Traditionally, fragrances worn by women fell into two basic categories - "Respectable women" favored the essence of a single garden flower while "sexually provocative indolic perfumes heavy with animal musk or jasmine" were associated with women of the demi-monde, prostitutes, or courtesans.
Chanel sought a new scent that would appeal to the flapper and celebrate the liberated feminine spirit of the 1920s.
The official launch place and date of Chanel No. 5 was in her rue Cambon, France boutique in the fifth month of the year, on the fifth day of the month: 5 May 1921. She infused the shop's dressing rooms with the scent, and she gave bottles to a select few of her high society friends. The success of Chanel No. 5 was immediate.
In 1924, Parfums Chanel was the corporate entity established to run the production, marketing, and distribution of the fragrance business. Chanel wanted to spread the sale of Chanel No. 5 from beyond her boutiques to the rest of the world. The rest is history
Why the No. 5 ?
At the age of twelve, Chanel was handed over to the care of nuns, and for the next six years spent a stark, disciplined existence in a convent orphanage, Aubazine, founded by 12th-century Cistercians in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France. From her earliest days there, the number five had potent associations for her. For Chanel, the number five was especially esteemed as signifying the pure embodiment of a thing, its spirit, its mystic meaning.
The Bottle Design:
Chanel envisioned a design that would be an antidote for the over-elaborate, precious fussiness of the crystal fragrance bottles then in fashion popularized by Lalique and Baccarat. Her bottle would be "pure transparency ...an invisible bottle". It is generally considered that the bottle design was inspired by the rectangular beveled lines of the Charvet toiletry bottles.
In 1922, the first bottle produced, differed from the Chanel No. 5 bottle known today. The original container had small, delicate, rounded shoulders and was sold only in Chanel boutiques to select clients.
In 1924, when "Parfums Chanel" incorporated, the glass proved too thin to survive shipping and distribution. The bottle was modified with square, faceted corners, its only significant design change.
The Bottle and Stopper Designs:
Unlike the bottle, which has remained the same since the 1924 redesign, the stopper has gone through numerous modifications. The original stopper was a small glass plug. The octagonal stopper, which became a brand signature, was created in 1924, when the bottle shape was changed.
The 1950s gave the stopper a bevel cut and a larger, thicker silhouette.
In the 1970s the stopper became even more prominent but, in 1986, it was re-proportioned so its size was more harmonious with the scale of the bottle.
In 1934, the "pocket flaçon", designed to be carried in a purse, was introduced. The price and container size were reduced to appeal to a broader customer base.
The bottle, over the decades, has itself become an identifiable cultural artifact, so much so that Andy Warhol chose to commemorate its iconic status in the mid-1980s with his pop art, silk-screened.
A limited-edition, crimson red crystal glass bottle in the three editions of Chanel No. 5, namely Eau de Parfum, Parfum, and L'Eau, was launched for Christmas in 2018.
The formula used to produce No. 5 has changed little since its creation, except for the necessary exclusion of natural civet and certain nitro-musks.
Chanel No. 5 is celebrating the Centenary of its first launch in 1921-22.
La Poste , France (The French Post) has brought out a Commemorative Stamp to celebrate the milestone:
A Miniature Sheet (MS) carrying five postage stamps of 1.08 Euro each. The MS is titled - "No.5 CHANEL PARIS PARFUM", as are the individual stamps in the Sheet.
A Full Sheet (FS) of 30 Stamps of the value of 2.16 Euro each. The description in French reads - FEUILLE DE 30 TIMBRES A 2.16 E = 64.80 E"
A Full Sheet (FS) of 30 Stamps of the value of 1.08 Euro each. The description in French reads - FEUILLE DE 30 TIMBRES A 1.08 E = 32.40 E"
A Single Stamp (SS) of 2.16 Euro depicts the design of the iconic No. 5 CHANEL Perfume bottle, with the numeral 5 placed in the background and a heart signifying that the perfume was an instant success/rage and continues to be so today.
A Single Stamp (SS) of 1.08 Euro
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