Chanel No. 22 is one of several well-known fragrances from Parisian
couturier
''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became the ...
Coco Chanel had worked with Ernest Beaux on her original perfume,
Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an impo ...
, which debuted in 1921. The following year, they released Chanel No. 22.
In 1924,
Pierre Wertheimer
Pierre Wertheimer (8 January 1888 – 24 April 1965) was a French businessman, who co-founded Chanel with Coco Chanel.
Family business
Wertheimer was born to a Jewish family,
aldehyde
In organic chemistry, an aldehyde () is an organic compound containing a functional group with the structure . The functional group itself (without the "R" side chain) can be referred to as an aldehyde but can also be classified as a formyl grou ...
tuberose
''Agave amica'', formerly ''Polianthes tuberosa'', the tuberose, is a perennial plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, extracts of which are used as a note in perfumery. Now widely grown as an ornamental plant, the species was o ...
,
ylang-ylang
''Cananga odorata'', known as ylang-ylang ( ) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Queensland, Australia. It is also native to parts of Thailand and Viet ...
, and
rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
. Base notes include
vetiver
''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae.
Vetiver is most closely related to '' Sorghum'' but shares many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such a ...
, vanilla, and incense. It has been called an old-fashioned floral and is said to have hints of lilac. Scent reviewer Chandler Burr said that "22 can be tough to appreciate immediately."
Modern Scent
The
Wertheimer family Wertheimer is an Ashkenazi Jewish surname:
People with this surname include:
*Akiba Israel Wertheimer (1778-1835), first Chief Rabbi of Altona and Schleswig-Holstein
* Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, French Jewish billionaire owners of Chanel
**Wer ...
still runs the Chanel perfume business.
Jacques Polge, the modern Chanel perfumer, released a collection called Les Exclusifs in February 2007. This included Chanel No. 22. The 200-milliliter spray bottle of the scent was sold exclusively in Chanel boutiques and at
Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman.
...
with a price of US$175.
A "voile" - a lighter, alcohol-free version – of the scent was introduced in 1996.Washington, Roxanne. "Fragrance Finds, ''The (Cleveland, OH) Plain Dealer'', September 19, 1996, p. 3E.