China Daily Global Edition (USA)
SEDUCED BY OPTIMISM
Luxe house Chanel celebrates the joy of life with its latest fragrance. Sun Yuanqing chats with creator Olivier Polge about accentuating the positive.
Coco Chanel used to say that chance only comes to optimistic people who know how to recognize it.
That spirit is now transformed into a scent called Chance Eau Vive by Olivier Polge, the fourth-generation creator of Chanel fragrances.
The latest offshoot of Chanel’s Chance fragrance line, the fragrance smells of grapefruit, orange, jasmine and vetiver, which Polge created to deliver a spirit of joy and optimism.
This is the second fragrance he has created for Chanel, after introducing Misia early this year, which was inspired by Coco Chanel’s friend Misia Sert.
Compared with Misia, which is relatively flowery and powdery, Polge says the new perfume is designed for a moment that is “more casual and spontaneous”.
“I want to bring more movement. All the Chance fragrances have very different angles. Chance Eau Vive is much more watery and energetic,” Polge tells China Daily.
Polge says he didn’t create the fragrance with a precise idea of what type of women would wear it. Instead, he believes the person who wears it will bring it to life.
“But I imagine it’s someone who is seduced by optimism and joy and tries to express it with fragrance,” he says.
The son of Jacques Polge, Chanel’s legendary fragrance creator of best-sellers like Coco Mademoiselle and Chance, Polge was only 4 years old when his father took the reins as house perfumer for Chanel.
“It’s something I lived with all my life. Growing up — maybe because my father was into fragrance — I wanted to do anything but that,” he says.
An art-history student interested in classical music, Polge was considering going to a design school in Paris before he took a summer internship at Chanel Fragrance Laboratory. A few months after immersing in the world of absolutes and essences, Polge realized where his future path was.
“I really fell in love with it. Because it echoes many things I liked. I realized that fragrances are made of those different types of auras. And they are works of farmers. I also like this very down-to-earth aspect.
“It’s a very strong message we give when we wear fragrance. But it’s totally invisible. You cannot see it. I like the fact that it is strong and weak at the same time.”
After training at Charabot in Grasse, he honed his skills at various international companies, creating hits like Vik- tor & Rolf ’s Flowerbomb, Balenciaga’s Florabotanica and Burberry’s The Beat. At the same time, he built a name for himself for the masterful use of leather and patchouli.
In 2013, he succeeded his father as Chanel’s new nose. Working with a house that is known for classic fragrances like Chanel No 5 and Coco Mademoiselle, Polge says his challenge now is to create something new rather than redoing the same things, drawing inspiration from everywhere in daily life.
“All forms of art can build up your own sensibility. And we are in a scented world. Scents themselves are also sources of inspiration.”
After all, fragrance is part of a person’s style, he says.
“Fragrance plays a major role in a person’s style. By wearing a fragrance, you tell something about yourself. It makes you feel a certain way. It shows something about your personality in the same way you dress, the way you speak and the tone of your voice.”
And how does one discover that right fragrance? The best way, he says, is to test it on your skin.
“A fragrance evolves a little bit as you wear it. The first few minutes are not always the exact scent as it diffuses over the rest of the day. You have to see the interaction of fragrance on your skin and see which one you like.”