No. 5 defies the conventions of perfume which glorify single-flower fragrances. Coco Chanel calls upon Ernest Beau, perfumer to the tsars. In search of inspiration, Ernest Beau ventures as far as the Arctic Circle, finding his muse in the exhilarating air issuing from the northern lakes under the midnight sun. The couturier encourages him to be ever more audacious, demanding still more jasmine, the most precious of essences. May Rose, Haitian Vetiver, Elang Elang,

Sandalwood, Orange Blossom, Essence of Neroli, Brazilian Tonka Beans, he composes a bouquet of over 80 scents for her, an abstract, mysterious perfume radiating an extravagant floral richness.

For the first time, No. 5 transforms the alchemy of scent through Ernest Beau's innovative use of aldehydes, synthetic components which exalt perfume like lemon which accentuates the taste of strawberry. Aldehydes add layers of complexity, making No. 5 ever more mysterious and impossible to decipher. For the first time, No. 5, a code, an identification number, makes the sentimental names for the perfumes of the day seem instantly out of date. It receives its name because Mademoiselle

Chanel prefers the fifth sample Ernest Beau presents to her. According to some, she also chooses the No. 5 because of its magical luck-giving qualities. For the first time, a perfume is presented in a simple laboratory flacon, pure, austere, as bare as a vial. The minimal lines of the No. 5 bottle distinguishes it from the mannered bottles of the 20s. Its sobriety ensures its timelessness. By some accounts, its stopper, cut like a diamond, is inspired by the geometry of the Place Vendôme. The original bottle adapts imperceptibly to its time. No. 5 becomes an icon of the 20th century. In 59, it is honored by the MoMA of New York, and Andy Warhol depicts it in a series of silkscreen. For the first time, at the liberation of Paris, American G.I.s flock to the

Chanel boutique on the rue Cambon, lining up to bring bottles of No. 5 to wives and fiancées waiting at home. From the United States to Japan, the fragrance's fame spreads. It soon becomes the best-selling perfume in the world. For the first time, No. 5 pioneers a new form of advertising in the world of fragrance. In 1937, Mademoiselle Chanel herself is photographed at the Ritz for

Harper's Bazaar. For the first time, a fragrance is advertised at the Super Bowl finals. No. 5 enjoys dizzying success. For the first time, No. 5's place in history is secured when Marilyn Monroe, at the height of her stardom in 1952, reveals that she wears to bed just a few drops of No. 5.

For the first time, Jacques Ellul, artistic director of Chanel between 1965 and 2007, features celebrities as incarnations of the iconic perfume. In 1968, Catherine Deneuve agrees to lend her French beauty to No. 5, followed by Candice Bergen, Susie Parker,

Ali McGrath, Lauren Hutton, Carole Bouquet, Estella Warren, Nicole Kidman, Audrey Dutout.

For the first time in the history of No. 5, a man agrees to represent the most feminine of fragrances, Brad Pitt. For the first time, a perfume created in 1921 is still the best-selling and most famous fragrance in the world. No. 5 resists the whims of fashion and the passage of time, as if Mademoiselle Chanel had found the formula for the feminine eternal.