Future-Proofing: Chanel Buys Up Hectares of Jasmine Fields To Make Sure It Can Keep Making the No.5 - Mirror,Mirror

Each bottle requires 1,000 French jasmine flowers.

A hundred years after it was released, Chanel No. 5 looks to be staying around longer.

READ ALSO: History Lesson: 100 Years Of Chanel N°5—The Scent, The Bottle, The Struggle, The ‘Purest’ Number

The luxury fashion and beauty giant has bought 10 hectares of jasmine fields in the town of Grasse in southern France. This is in addition to the 20 hectares of flower fields it already has in partnership with the locality’s Mul family and their farm. They have been Chanel’s jasmine supplier since 1987.

The purchase, according to an Insider report, is “because [Chanel] is worried the crops used in its best-selling perfume are disappearing.”

This concern seems valid. Known as the center of the French perfume industry, the area is considered the world’s perfume capital, home to the fragrant, pale pink May roses, and jasmine harvested every late August.

The two are the key ingredients of Chanel No. 5. In fact, 1,000 jasmine flowers and 12 roses are needed to produce every crystalline bottle of the golden elixir-like perfume.

The scent of jasmine grown and hand-picked in Grasse cannot be replicated in other parts of the world, too, making the town Chanel’s sole source of the flower.

Grasse has been a flower and fragrance hub since the 17th century when local leather tanners began to perfume their wares. It has not been heavily affected by the pandemic as workers are able to work outdoors.

Perfumers have been careful to not catch COVID-19, too, as their sense of smell is crucial to developing and creating fragrances.

Centennial celebration

This year marks the perfume’s 100th year anniversary.

To celebrate the milestone, Chanel has unveiled a commemorative line of 17 beauty products with the No. 5 scent–all of which have been showcased in a pop-up at London’s Selfridges department store.

“N°5 is the most iconic fragrance of the century, a radical creation that revolutionised the traditions of its era and a design piece-turned-icon that celebrates 100 years of fame,” Selfridges writes on its website.

“To mark this very special year, CHANEL has created an exclusive collection inspired by everyday objects, a reminder that wearing N°5 transforms the ordinary.”

Aptly called Factory 5, the collection includes personal care products in limited edition minimal, black and white packaging: soap, body cream, shower gel body lotion, body oil, among others.

Banner Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

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