FINANCIAL PRACTICALITIES MAY HAVE ORIGINALLY INFLUENCED THE CONCEPT OF THE SIGNATURE SCENT,
but money has never been the only factor. That’s because the premise of fragrance is pretty simple. It’s to smell good, yes, but it’s also for a scent to become synonymous with you. Fragrance, after all, at its most fundamental level, is a form of non-verbal communication, a symbol that you’re projecting to the world.
I caught up with an old friend recently and the compliment he gave upon embracing me was the best I’ve ever received. “You still smell like you,” he said, smiling. That’s not to say I don’t dabble in new scents, but I believe in the signature. It’s the fragrance equivalent of a safe space, a comfort food, a refuge. For me, it’s Emporio Armani She, a powdery 1998 creation whose composition and notes matter less than the wave of nostalgic comfort it gives me when I spray it on.
And I’m not alone. There are thousands of different scents to choose from, but the sales stats show we reach for the devil we know more often than the one we don’t. “It’s not surprising that the top 10 line-up remains fairly consistent,” says fragrance evaluator Michael Edwards, who each year pens
Fragrances Of The World, categorising new additions to the market. “These are the gems of perfumery, tested by time, and supported substantially by the brands and retailers.”
Such is the case at Myer, where even the hottest new fragrances are no match for old favourites. “Last Christmas we had three new fragrances storm the market – Chanel Gabrielle, Tiffany & Co. Eau De Parfum and Gucci Bloom. However, every week of the year, the number-one scent at Myer is the same – Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle,” says group general manager of beauty, Sue Price.
And it seems it’s a global phenomenon. “[When] Coco Mademoiselle was launched in 2001, it started out as a small flanker, [but] soon became a voracious wild animal,” says Edwards. “In 2010, it became the world’s bestselling scent.”
Today, instead of trying to compete with the popularity of Coco Mademoiselle, Chanel has released an intense version of the fragrance. “I wanted to remain close to the original formula, while giving it a new dimension,” says Chanel perfumer Olivier Polge. To do it, he took the patchouli of the OG scent and dialled it up to 11, producing something sexy, powerful and memorable, but still comfortable and familiar.