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• 2001

Best Men's Fragrance House: Chanel

We asked you, the Basenotes visitors to nominate which fragrance house you thought was the best.

This year went for the house of CHANEL.

Coco Chanel was born on August 19th 1883 in Saumur, France.

Chanel broke all of fashion's rules, she was a groundbreaker. She created 'the little black dress' and well, there was this perfume called 'CHANEL NO. 5'

CHANEL NO. 5 was created by Ernest Beaux in 1920 and 80 years on it still tops the best seller lists all over the world.

Beaux presented Chanel with ten fragrances to choose from. (Or so the story goes...) Chanel chose perfume number five, hence the name.

NO 5 contains 'aldehydes'. This is a synthetic ingredient that enhances the floral notes. NO 5 was the first fragrance to use an aldehydic note in any great quantity, and so was truly unique.

It was launched in 1921 in Paris. Chanel gave away hundreds of bottles to her top customers. They loved it and had to return to buy more! A classic was born.

In 1924, Chanel teamed up with the largest cosmetic company in France (at the time), Bourjois to create Parfums Chanel.

A deal was made. Chanel would keep all the profits from the couture business and 10% of the profits of the parfums business.

Pierre Wertheimer the owner of Bourjois, would keep 90% of the parfums profits. At the time, no fashion house had launched a fragrance with any success so no-one really knew how well it would go.

As it happened, Parfums Chanel was a complete success. Coco had practically given away the most lucrative side of the business. A decision she would come to regret.

Nowadays, Bourjois and the Wertheimer familly own and control all of the Chanel business.

Chanel Inc also produce fragrances for Tiffany, Ungaro and Salvatore Ferragamo.

The Finalists...

Previous Winners...