Olivier Polge: a conversation with Chanel's master of scent

The man behind some of Chanel’s most iconic scents lifts the stopper on what makes a CC bottle so irresistible

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For french master perfumer Olivier Polge, a finely attuned sense of smell proved to be an unexpected inheritance from his father. He discovered it quite by accident: during a long summer break in his history of art course at Paris’ École du Louvre, Polge joined Chanel’s Fragrance Laboratory as an intern, where he worked for his father Jacques. “I was at the back of the lab, in front of the scales,” he says, remembering days spent carefully measuring sandalwood oil and other raw materials. “I really liked it.”

Jacques Polge was appointed as Chanel’s head perfumer in 1978; he followed ‘noses’ Henri Robert (Chanel N°19) and Ernest Beaux, who debuted the emblematic N°5 scent alongside Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel in 1921. During his tenure, Polge Sr added numerous best-selling creations to Chanel’s canon, from the Coco (1984), Allure (1996) and Chance (2003) families, to the leather and spice of Antaeus (1981). “I remember when I was 10 and he came up with Coco,” says Polge, now 45. “I remember the small bottles at home. Chanel was always there.”

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