top of page
Rechercher

N°5 Chanel artistic codes

Dernière mise à jour : 4 janv. 2022

Would that surprise you if I tell you that the Chanel N°5 is so elaborate that it has exhibitions dedicated to this product? If so, this article is for you!

Coco Chanel, met famous figures in the innovative artistic life of the post-war years, including Dali, Cocteau, Picasso, Apollinaire, Stravinsky and Marie Laurencin (painting in 1923).

In 1921, N°5 was launched in an abundant artistic environment. Cubism, Surrealism and Dadaism appeared, and abstract art took hold. In this spirit of the times carrying the avant-garde, the perfume expresses this aspiration for absolute modernity. Designed as a couture dress, N°5 is the first perfume to break with fashionable fragrances by offering several figurative scents. She sees it as a laboratory denomination, which is also her lucky number.



The design of the bottle was signed by Gabrielle Chanel. Initially, she wanted a simple object for her perfume. It is then a square bottle in a grosgrain paper case, pasted highlighted in black edge with the ornate vials of the time and the abstract names with flowery titles. The case of N°5 is in the vein of the time, a collage, like those of the cubists. The simplicity of its design constitutes a contrast with the presentations elaborated in the perfumery of the 1920s. The graphic line of this bottle, stripped, rectangular, with clear angles, with its cap cut in emerald, is in total contrast with the exuberances of the objects of perfume from the Roaring Twenties.

"What's inside is much more important than the bottle," she said.

The elegance of the bottle echoes the clean line that Coco imposes through its fashion creations. This daring minimalist silhouette is attributed to several sources of inspiration, such as the Russian Imperial Guard vodka flasks her lover owned.


Over time, N°5 becomes the emblem of the House. In 1959, the packaging of N°5 entered the permanent collections of the MoMA in New York. Launched on May 5, 1921, the Maison de la rue Cambon paid tribute to him by starting its exhibition on May 5, 92 years to the day after his birth.


Sober, uncluttered, the bottle of N°5 is considered an icon of the 20th century and has been represented by Dali with facetiously sketched out a self-portrait with a moustache.


In 2013, an exhibition "N°5 Culture Chanel" was devoted to the mythical perfume by the Palais de Tokyo. Mademoiselle's artistic codes are represented through the fashion designer's personal archives, works of art, films, books and photographs.


On collages of Max Ernst, Liubov Popova, Picabia appears the lucky number.


In 1985, Andy Warhol immortalized the bottle as a 20th-century archetype in a series of nine acrylic paintings and turned it into a work of art.

The visual high quality design and effects side of this representations rely the notion of dreams and esthetic.


Over the years, the shape of the bottle will evolve. It will be modified five times, in 1921, 1930, 1950, 1970 and 1986.


Thanks to the participation of big names from artistic sector the advertisement of the N°5 has evolved through the time to emphasize its iconic and unique image. With all this attention, the perfume is a star and it show how the brand CHANEL innovate to continue to develop its luxury image and seduce its audience.

What is certain is that we will still hear about perfume for a long time!


Flore Brault Custot

19/11/2021

References:

https://histoiredemode.hypotheses.org/701 (Eléonore Testa juin 2013)


Images:

picture by Flore Brault Custot at the musée de l'orangerie also available on the CHANEL official website : https://www.chanel.com/fr/about-chanel/gabrielle-chanel/


ความคิดเห็น

bottom of page