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Chanel’s New Perfume Is the Equivalent of a Boyfriend Shirt

Chanel

Making perfect scents!

For its new genderbending fragrance, Boy Chanel, the Parisian house’s perfumer Olivier Polge drew inspiration from Coco Chanel’s lover and benefactor, Arthur Capel, whose nickname was Boy.

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“My way of working on this fragrance was really not to try to make a unisex fragrance but really more to dive into men’s fragrance … to show how well it could be worn by a woman,” he told WWD, noting it’s the equivalent of a woman wearing her boyfriend’s shirt.

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The result is a blend of lavender and rose geranium sourced by Chanel, joined with moss, lemon, grapefruit zest, sandalwood, vanilla, musk and other notes, WWD reports.

“I was trying to play with rules [of masculinity and femininity], which I liked. By playing with those rules, it’s a way of showing there are no rules,” Polge explained.

Gardenia
Gardenia by Chanel.

Boy Chanel is the 17th offering from Les Exclusifs, a collection that was composed by Coco Chanel’s perfumer in the past, and picked up by Polge’s father, Jacques, in later years, according to the Chanel website. 

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“Each work draws its inspiration from the life of Gabrielle Chanel: poetic testimonies to legendary places, materials she loved, and the symbols that always followed,” it continues. Les Exclusifs also includes Chanel Gardenia, a favorite of Emma Stone.

If you happen to be in the Marais neighborhood of Paris, Boy Chanel will be sold at the brand’s beauty boutique on March 24. Les Americains can snag 75 and 200-ml bottles in early June, for $196 and $359, respectively.

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