Fragrance house

Chanel

Chanel’s story began in Paris in 1910, when Gabrielle Chanel opened a hat boutique at 21 rue Cambon. She expanded to Deauville in 1912, established her first couture house in Biarritz in 1915, and moved it to 31 rue Cambon in 1918. In 1921, the House introduced its first perfume, N°5, created through Chanel’s partnership with perfumer Ernest Beaux; three years later, Société des Parfums CHANEL was established to produce and sell perfumes and cosmetics. After Gabrielle Chanel’s death, Jacques Polge became the House’s third perfumer in 1978 and created Coco, Coco Mademoiselle, Allure, Chance, and Bleu. Karl Lagerfeld joined as artistic director in 1983 and reshaped Chanel’s fashion activities across Cruise, Métiers d’art, pre-collection, Haute Couture, and Ready-to-Wear. Chanel launched the Les Exclusifs fragrance collection in 2007. N°5 is a defining fragrance for the brand. In 2025, Matthieu Blazy joined as Artistic Director of Fashion Activities after Virginie Viard left the role in 2024.