“Charming Lolita” – Kate Moss by Ellen von Unwerth for Vogue IT, April 1992
Young and slender with a doll’s complexion suited for the daughter of an Angel, CHANEL Coco Mademoiselle came out 9 years after the pioneering 1992 fruity, woody techno-gourmand concocted by Olivier Cresp and art-directed by Pierre Aulas for Mugler. Aiming to steer Chanel parfums in a new direction palatable to younger women, the inhouse-perfumer Jacques Polge together with the soon to depart for Dior François Demachy channeled the Mugler unmistakable glossy cotton-candy patchouli trail in the black’n white classy rigueur of the Chanel DNA. So relying more on the fruity-woody facets with just a hint of maltolic caramel- popcorn coating, the spirit of a dusty fruity chypre excitingly reincarnated in a nonchalant teenager leaving a patchouli trail as thin and lollipop-chic as Kate Moss in the advertising shot by Karl Lagerfeld. A new modern masterpiece was born, the first fruitchouli.
CHANEL Coco Mademoiselle Advertising featuring Kate Moss by Karl Lagerfeld, 2001
In his 2009 edition of “Perfumes: The Guide” Luca Turin dismissed this jolie Mademoiselle as a quickly assembled flanker (of what? Coco?). And, while giving it four stars, he concluded that “Mercifully, this style is on its way out”. He was very wrong and this year CHANEL Coco Mademoiselle turns 18 and continues to be a top seller. The secret of its success is in part that CHANEL Coco Mademoiselle paved the way in 21st century perfumery by cultivating the genre of Fruitchouli (a term invented by a perfumista on the web that’s now become popular to indicate these fruity-patchouli accords) addicted and even more blurring demographics as now women at every age wear fruity patchouli.
Chanel Spring/Summer 2010 collection channeling the Lolita charm
Using different fractions of patchouli coeur, CHANEL Coco Mademoiselle radiates a dry rosiness thanks to a May rose absolute pinch thrown in a loaf of peppery iso-e super echoing a ghost of the classic chypre bad-temper. This dry woods saltiness is backed by a juicy fruit salad all about the tropical-green spiciness of lychees and creamy peaches that still convey the last innocence of the fascinating stage between girl and woman, the sexiness of a dewy Lolita with a mischievous lollipop in her cheek.
Patchouli Coeur is patchouli cleaned from its camphor-like and musty facets during the distillation process
It is said no one at Chanel expected CHANEL Coco Mademoiselle to become such a hit on the market, (especially in US where it was one of the best selling perfumes in the country for quite some time), for its fruity patchouli (or pink patchouli, or pink chypre as some call this kind of modern accords) was so out of style for the brand that launched the iconic No. 5, the classic Coco or the ladylike soft-oriental floralcy of Allure right before it. Nonetheless Coco Mademoiselle’s fruitchouli was an important reference for other fragrances to come including Narciso Rodriguez for her, Francis Kurkdjian’s Rumeur for Lanvin and Christine Nagel’s original Miss Dior Chérie. 18 years old later, this trendyaccord has flooded every segment of perfumery from artistic (Fruitchouli from Tauerville is one of the latest examples) to the most affordable brands like Yves Rocher So Elixir.
Keira Knightley in the new CHANEL Coco Mademoiselle eau de parfum intense advertising campaign
Last year, CHANEL introduced Coco Mademoiselle eau de parfum Intense concentration was released which lends the original fruity-woody theme to a vanillic drydown that shifts this new flanker to a more grown-up woody oriental territory; yet at 18 years old Coco Mademoiselle is unsurpassed
Ermano Picco, Editor and Fragrance Expert