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Chanel

Égoïste

1990WoodyEDTFrance

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Editorial notes

  1. 01

    A creamy sandalwood-rosewood masculine on an unprecedented dose of Mysore sandalwood, now CITES-restricted and rarefied.

  2. 02

    The 1990 Jean-Paul Goude TV commercial set to Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet is widely cited as one of the most artistically ambitious perfume ads ever produced.

  3. 03

    Goude staged the spot on a Riviera hotel facade with women shouting 'Égoïste!' from the balconies in choreographed unison.

  4. 04

    Composed by Jacques Polge in 1990 around mandarin and tarragon over a rose-carnation heart and a sandalwood-vanilla-tonka base, in a burgundy-lacquered flacon recalling a vintage cigarette case.

Dossier

Edition · 000

Status · Active.

A creamy sandalwood with rosewood.

Composed by
Jacques Polge
Founder
Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel
Country
France

The pyramid

Top
mandarincorianderbergamottarragon
Heart
roserosewoodcarnationpatchouli
Base
sandalwoodvanillatonkaambervetiver

The brief

Polge built it around an unprecedented dose of Mysore sandalwood (now CITES-restricted); the launch coincided with Jean-Paul Goude's iconic balcony commercial of women shouting 'Égoïste!' at the building's windows.

Name'Égoïste' — French for 'egotist', deliberately provocative given the era's emergent yuppie culture.

The flacon

Burgundy-lacquered glass flacon with a stepped art-deco shoulder and gold-trimmed cap, evoking a vintage cigarette case.

Footnotes

  • The 1990 Jean-Paul Goude TV commercial set to Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet is widely cited as one of the most artistically ambitious perfume ads ever produced.

The Curator's Note

Marketing as Prokofiev: the rare perfume ad that out-lived its product.

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