Chanel In-House Perfumer Olivier Polge Shapes Chanel’s Olfactory Universe

After Olivier Polge took over the reins as Chanel’s fourth in-house perfumer from his father and legendary perfumer Jacques Polge in 2015, Chanel’s olfactory choices have advanced and embraced novel interpretations that honour Gabrielle Chanel’s legacy. Armed with a background in artwork historical past, Polge embodied an inventive sensibility in his craft that intertwined historical past, tradition and scent. This attitude allowed him to view perfume as an expressive storyteller past merely a product of Chanel’s enduring fashion.

“ scent lifts the spirit. It’s just like the odor of recent bread or espresso within the morning — easy but evocative, very similar to the understated class Chanel embodies”

— Olivier Polge

Polge’s journey into the world of perfumery was not an unequivocal path carved out by advantage of his father’s profession. He distanced himself from his father’s work and delved into artwork historical past. “Since my father was a perfumer, I didn’t need to observe in his footsteps as a young person,” shared Polge. It modified one summer season when he caved into scent’s compelling nature throughout a summer season internship in his father’s perfume lab. That discovery of how delicate the dance of perfection is between technical prowess and artistic instinct drew him in. The hands-on expertise ignited a fireplace inside him, one intoxicating sufficient to steer his life in direction of the trail of perfumery. Nonetheless, opposite to what most individuals would anticipate, Polge didn’t study the methods of perfumery from his father. “After I wished to coach in perfumes, my father thought it was a good suggestion to ship me away. As an alternative, he despatched me to study from others,” mentioned Polge. “He taught me extra about constructing my sensibility and style and not directly shaping my skilled method.”

On the coronary heart of Polge’s philosophy lies the dedication to create and rework as an alternative of merely reproducing an current perfume. Polge’s work on the N°5 L’Eau, launched in 2016, showcases this philosophy. He revisited the foundational components of the unique N°5 however reimagined them with a contemporary twist. It was more energizing, lighter, and spoke to up to date sensibilities whereas retaining the N°5’s signature complexity. Polge has since created 20 new scents for Chanel, together with this yr’s newest addition to the Les Exclusif vary, the Comete.

As the worldwide panorama advanced, so too did scent preferences. Polge stays aware of the significance of making universally interesting fragrances. As an alternative of chasing traits and fads, Polge roots his creations in Gabrielle Chanel’s pioneering spirit and universe, weaving them into every new perfume he creates. We spoke to Olivier Polge throughout his first-ever go to to Singapore and Southeast Asia about Chanel’s olfactory universe and extra.

It’s your first time in Singapore, and you’ve got visited Chinatown and Little India. How do you assume totally different cultures affect perceptions of perfume?

Range is essential, and I’m glad we dwell in such an interconnected world. Fragrance is a cultural component, and though Chanel is a globally recognised model with roots in French and European tradition, we create scents from France for the world. It’s stunning to see how totally different nations have their preferences.

Fragrances can odor in another way on individuals. Are you able to elaborate and share what somebody ought to search for when selecting a perfume?

There’s a chemistry that makes a fragrance bloom in another way on every particular person. This particular person response is a part of what makes perfumery so attention-grabbing. There isn’t a single right reply when selecting a perfume. I create scents with a selected id that’s significant to the model. I consider it’s intriguing when somebody chooses an sudden scent for themselves, very similar to how they may resolve to decorate uniquely.’

“Gabrielle Chanel’s imaginative and prescient was about transformation — taking the atypical and making it extraordinary. It’s this philosophy I carry into each new perfume creation”

— Olivier Polge

How do you reinterpret a basic like Chanel N°5 to enchantment to a contemporary viewers whereas respecting its historical past?

Slightly than specializing in legacy and historical past, I view it as a mode. Once we celebrated 100 years of N° 5, I realised we not make perfumes the identical means. The N°5 has a robust id, permitting us to experiment with its construction, like with N°5 L’Eau, the place we dressed the basic components in another way.

How do you push the boundaries of fragrance making at Chanel, and what traditions do you select to honour?

You all the time should play with the boundaries. Chanel perfumes aren’t tied to particular uncooked supplies, giving us the liberty to discover. Nonetheless, it’s essential that the creations are significant to the model and add one thing new to our signature.

“Fragrances bloom in another way on every particular person; that is the place the magic lies. It’s about creating one thing private but universally resonant, simply as Chanel meant”

— Olivier Polge

Are you able to give us an instance of pushing boundaries in a perfume?

As an example, with Le Lion de Chanel, one in all my creations within the Les Exclusifs line, I aimed to seize an impression we didn’t have already got. It’s a strong scent in comparison with others. Typically, hyperlinks emerge with previous creations, even when they weren’t meant. That’s the great thing about it.

When creating a brand new fragrance, do you look again at previous creations or begin from scratch? Has there been any creation you felt wasn’t prepared and revisited later?

It relies upon. For N°5 L’Eau, I examined earlier formulation to search out its essence. Nonetheless, I began with a brand new system with Gabrielle Chanel (the fragrance). I all the time have concepts exterior of particular tasks. Typically, I experiment with a mix of uncooked supplies that may later turn into a part of a fragrance. It’s an ongoing technique of exploring potential scents.

Are there components in Chanel’s fragrances that you simply discover fascinating or versatile that may seem in numerous perfumes but tackle distinctive traits?

Sure, sure uncooked supplies can have a refined or transformative function. As an example, iris is just not an outspoken ingredient however interacts superbly with woody notes. Flowers typically play a vital function at Chanel, both main or secondary, making a thread that hyperlinks the totally different components. Some uncooked supplies, like gardenia or lily of the valley, have extremely robust scents that the business doesn’t know methods to extract.

Given your heritage, I’m positive life has all the time been crammed with fragrances and fragrance making. At what level did you realise you had a ardour for fragrance making, and what made you resolve to pursue it?

Effectively, I realised it fairly late. Since my father was a perfumer, I rebelled in opposition to following in his footsteps as a young person. I used to be learning artwork historical past as an alternative. One summer season throughout my college days, I interned at my father’s lab, and that’s after I found the enchantment of this craft.

Would you say that stepping away from perfume-making gave you a brand new perspective while you ultimately returned to it?

It was a extra intimate course of. It’s like watching your children develop while you turn into a father. You information them however permit them to search out their means again in the event that they need to. In my case, I used to be lucky that the door was nonetheless open for me.

You succeeded your father in 2015. Did you uncover shocking sides about him as a father that you simply hadn’t observed earlier than whereas researching his work?

I knew his creations nicely earlier than I joined Chanel. It’s arduous to separate his skilled persona from being my father. He didn’t educate me perfumery instantly; as an alternative, he despatched me to study from others. What he did educate me was extra about constructing my sensibility and style and not directly formed my skilled method. On knowledgeable stage, I started to know his style for patchouli and sure fragrances after I researched his work extra deeply.

This text was first seen on Males’s Folio Singapore.

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