A brief history of Chanel

What’s the story?

In beauty terms, it all starts with Chanel No5. It is the best-selling fragrance in the world. The world! That’s a lot of people all going around smelling the same. It started life back in 1921 when Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel was already reigning over the Paris fashion world. Created with Russian perfumer to the Tsars, Ernest Beaux, the name for Chanel’s first fragrance is said to come from her superstitious belief in the virtues of the number five. Apparently she picked the fifth sample presented to her by Beaux and the simple name stuck. It was the first time that a fashion house had created a perfume and it soon became a huge hit. At the same time, Chanel started to expand and go global launching a cosmetics line (in 1924) and a range of skincare products (in 1929).

So Chanel took the world by storm?

In the 50s, Chanel No5 really was the perfume to be, erm, smelt in. In a 1954 interview, Marilyn Monroe famously answered the question “What do you wear to bed?” with the line “Just a few drops of No5”. The popularity of the perfume grew and grew but this wasn’t necessarily a great thing. In the 70s it was decided that No5 had lost its air of exclusivity so it was reinvented and made less widely available. Huge advertising campaigns were adopted using big name directors and big name stars – a Chanel tradition that lives on to this day.

Is it just about perfume then?

Marilyn Monroe getting ready for bed

Not at all. Chanel has a huge range of fancily-priced makeup with seasonal launches and limited edition collections that come thick and fast. In more recent years, there has been the somewhat peculiar phenomenon of the ‘it’ nail colour. Maybe because it’s affordable in a recession, maybe because it’s fun, or maybe because Chanel have a great marketing team and have hooked us all in, but something strange happens when Chanel launch a new shade. People get a bit giddy – waiting lists are formed and cheap copycats are produced. This spring’s hues are a group of three pastelly-fruity shades named April, May, and June (pictured above, £17.50 each, call 020 7493 3836 for stockist info). My pick is the peachy shade June which I feel bridges the seasonal gap quite nicely – just the right side of summery brightness without going too far.

Any reasonably priced alternatives?

Nails Inc have a very similar shade called Little Miss Sunshine (£12, nailsinc.com) or try Revlon Top Speed Fast Dry Nail Enamel in Peachy (£6.49, boots.com).