This is the number – Style – Kommersant

At the entrance to the Grand Palais Ephemere, which grew up on the Champ de Mars during the overhaul of the historic Grand Palace, a brass band plays, the entertainer cheerfully invites to the performance. However, calling is not required. There are clearly more people wishing to get to the Le Grand Numero de Chanel exhibition than it is capable of accepting. All of Paris is plastered with posters, reservations on the Internet have long been scattered, a live queue stands in the rain. But once inside, in a real big top, adversity is forgotten.

The frozen spectator is picked up by magicians and actors, magicians and gamblers, psychologists, make-up artists and God knows who else and circling the rides, intoxicating with Chanel fragrances and their stories. Around the central carousel bar, there are five rooms, each dedicated to one of the fragrances or series, as in the case of Les Exclusifs de Chanel. They literally plunge into them: choose a bottle, open the curtain – and the show begins. The Chance Hall is designed as a casino; you can try your luck at poker, roulette or the wheel of fortune here without the risk of being stranded. There are no losers: everyone leaves with souvenirs. The atmosphere of the cabaret refers to the youthful years of Gabrielle Chanel, when the future star of French fashion sang modestly in the station cafe in Moulin. There she pulled out her lucky ticket – an acquaintance with an influential rich man, a connoisseur of horses and women, Etienne Balzan, who took her to Paris. It is proposed to continue exploring the arsenal of Chanel the seductress in the Coco Mademoiselle room.

Red lines, as you know, are not recommended to be crossed, and blue lines are easy, they insist at Chanel. The Bleu hall is the only masculine hall at this perfume festival, and it was invented as a city of skyscrapers at night. No matter how much the organizers try to make it as neutral as possible – it’s neither Paris, nor New York, nor London, the face of Gaspard Ulliel is still seen everywhere, ideally embodying the soft masculinity and depth of Bleu. Almost a year has passed since his tragic death – the most popular men’s fragrance Chanel has not yet received a new face. True, in a special issue of Numero magazine dedicated to the exhibition, the etiquette of the Paris Opera, the charismatic Hugo Marchand, tries on this role. They could make a good duet with Bleu.

“Perfume is a reflection of our personality, just like clothes, manner of speech and movement. The fragrance reveals something more that cannot be expressed in any other way,” says Chanel “nose” Olivier Polge. In the hall with exclusive fragrances – now there are 18 of them in the collection – psychologists-actors help you choose a perfume alter ego to your liking and taste. For generous personalities – Gardenia, cordial – 31 rue de Cambon, independent – Boy Chanel, conceited proud – Lion de Chanel.

And, finally, the main number of the exhibition – Chanel No. 5. “I don’t want a rose or a lily of the valley, I want the perfume to be compound, artificial, like a dress. I need a feminine fragrance that smells like a woman! And I’ll call it No. 5 – the five will bring good luck, ”briefed the 40-year-old Ernest Bo, 38-year-old Gabrielle Chanel. The Russian emigrant, once one of the best “noses” of Tsarist Russia, and then the main avant-garde of French perfumery, was introduced to Chanel by Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, then her lover. They lived at the Villa Bel Respiro in Garches near Paris under the same roof with Stravinsky and his family. Chanel at that time had a cheerful artistic environment, which provided her with Misia Sert – a French polka, a friend of all artistic Paris. It was from her that Chanel’s long friendship with Diaghilev began, support for his “Russian Seasons”, costumes for his ballets. The exhibition features photographs, portraits and artistic artifacts. Among them, for example, a series of five collages a la dada, gathered around the superstitious mademoiselle’s favorite numbers – 1921 and 5. She presented this series to Serge Lifar, a Diaghilev artist and future artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet.

The bottle also corresponded to the spirit of the new time: no monograms or embellishments. Strict rectangle of transparent glass with a lid in the form of Place Vendôme, packed in a simple black and white box. The historical bottle of 1921 is adjacent to the anniversary bottle of 2021 at the exhibition. It was released last year for the centenary #5: a bottle of Baccarat, a volume of 2021 ml, a circulation of only 55 copies, and a price of €28,000. Copies 1, 5 and 55 were sold immediately – here it is, the magic of numbers. The rest are waiting for collectors.

To throw an exhibition dedicated to the best-selling fragrances of the house at the height of the gift season – it would seem, what could be more obvious? Like it or not, you won’t leave empty-handed. The path to the exit, of course, is laid through the store. But this marketing tent is so well done and thought out that buying here is a pleasure.

Maria Sidelnikova