N°5

Chanel tells its birth in three sentences: in 1921, Gabrielle Chanel asked Ernest Beaux for a woman's perfume with a woman's scent, rare and powerful; the perfumer offered her a visionary composition that used aldehydes like no one before him; Mademoiselle chose the fifth trial and kept the number as its name.

1921, a couturière's first perfume

Numéro dates the launch to 1921 and notes that no couturière had ever launched a perfume under her own name; the blog Cultures et Histoires de Mode, on the occasion of the N°5 Culture Chanel exhibition, gives May 5, 1921, and the founding of Parfums Chanel in 1924, when Gabrielle Chanel established the profession of couturier-perfumer.

Victoria Frolova, on Bois de Jasmin, traces the versions: the 1921 extract, an eau de cologne rebalanced by Beaux in the 1930s, and Henri Robert's eau de toilette in 1952. In 1986, Jacques Polge, Chanel's perfumer since 1978, wrote the eau de parfum, a fuller version according to the house.

N°5 today

Chanel sells the eau de parfum in 35, 50, 100 and 200 ml, in a refillable Twist and Spray purse bottle, and distinguishes it from its two sisters: the eau de toilette, woody and textured, and L'Eau, a vibrant freshness. The sillage of the eau de parfum, states the house, is amber and sensual.

Since September 2024, Margot Robbie has been the face of N°5, photographed by Karim Sadli, reports Chanel; Fresh Mag Paris notes that she takes the place of Marion Cotillard. In 2026, the eau de toilette receives a new bottle with a magnetic cap, while the eau de parfum and its stopper remain unchanged.