Account Karl Schlögel, German historian and one of the most prominent specialists in Soviet historythat he was always struck by an aroma he felt in the USSR every time he attended a big event, a concert, a ballet performance or a family party. “In my memories, I associated the sweet and heavy aroma with a rather solemn audience, with a shiny parquet and lighted chandeliers, with spectators circulating through the theater lobby during the break.” He felt the fragrance again at the official events of the German Democratic Republic and the sensation became intrigue. The intrigue then led to an investigation. Thus, he discovered that the perfume that had aroused his curiosity was called “Red Moscow” (Krásnaia Moskvá, such as its original name) and was the most popular of Russian fragrances.
But his search led him to another surprising fact. The most famous of modern fragrances, Chanel No. 5, had a common origin with this Soviet perfume. Both had been created by French perfumers who lived in Moscow during the monarchy.
The result of this research was published in a book titled “The aroma of empires. Chanel No. 5 and Moscow Red” (Cliff) and its translation into Spanish has just arrived in Argentine bookstores. In it, from the first lines of the prologue, Schlögel confesses that he was very afraid of entering a world as complex, ancient and fascinating as that of perfumes. A universe of which the author of works such as “Terror and Utopia” and “The Soviet Century” never had the slightest idea. But the impulse of Karl Lagerfeld, who was for a long time artistic director of the Chanel brand, encouraged him. At the end of his writing he came to the conclusion that to analyze society “the study of luxury can be as interesting as that of the daily history of ordinary people.”
common past
The origin of the two fragrances in question dates back to the 19th and early 20th centuries, with the establishment in Moscow of important French perfume companies. Russia had a large domestic market both for basic cosmetic products, such as soaps and colognes, and for luxury fragrances consumed by the nobility and gentry. Furthermore, from there, these companies exported to the rest of the world, especially Asia. Therefore, the industry in Russia had reached high levels of production and sophistication.
Although Ernest Beaux and Auguste Michel, creators respectively of Chanel No. 5 and Moscow Redworked in different companies, both had trained with the same teacher and their creations were located within a common olfactory family. Two pioneering perfumes in Russia can be considered antecedents of Chanel No. 5 and Moscow Red: the so-called Bouquet de Napoleon and the Bouquet Préféré de l’Impératrice, created in tribute to Catherine II on the 300th anniversary of the rule of the Romanov family.
Another important fact is that at this time fragrances began to include aldehydes, a chemical substance that is combined with natural essences to give new and special effects to perfumes. These formulas began a new era in the cosmetic industry. That was, furthermore, one of the great novelties that Chanel N° 5 contributed to the history of aromas..
With the arrival of the revolution, French companies were confiscated and many of their staff returned to their country of origin. Ernest Beaux took with him the box with the bottles containing the fragrances he was working on. A lover of Coco Chanel, the Russian Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich Romanov, introduced them and the rest is known history: the designer chose the fifth option from the Beaux samples and the number remained as the name of the perfume.
The design of the bottle and packaging was another aspect in which Chanel N° 5 was avant-garde.. Simple and clean, it allowed the content to be clearly seen and its lines gave way to an aesthetic imprint very different from that of classic perfumes.
But the fragrance was not only revolutionary due to its composition and appearance, it also marked the beginning of a key business for the fashion and cosmetics industry. Since their creation, perfumes represented the possibility for luxury labels of reaching a wider audience, for which their garments were inaccessible. This much cheaper product provided them with both large sales volumes and the possibility of reinforcing the prestige of the brand.
Unlike Beaux, Auguste Michel, the creator of Red Moscow, could not leave Russia due to a problem with his passport and stayed the rest of his life in the USSR. The confiscated companies became part of large “trusts” and the personnel were converted within these state conglomerates. Krásnaia Moskvá or Red Moscow was released on the market in 1927 to celebrate the first decade of the revolution. Highly valued as an expert, Michel then received an even more important commission, which had to be ready for the 20th anniversary of the Bolsheviks coming to power. I had to create a fragrance that represented the spirit of Stalin’s times, symbolized in a great work of architecture: the Palace of the Soviets. A monumental building that was never built and which was imagined as a symbol of Soviet power. The perfume, like the palace, did not become a reality either.
two women
The creation of these two perfumes is also associated, for Schlögel, with the careers of two women, Coco Chanel and Polina Zhemchúzhina, wife of Stalin’s foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov. Both represented a new way of facing a world in absolute transformation.
Chanel, who had grown up in an orphanage in the most extreme poverty, became one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, completely changing the way women of her time dressed. She was a true survivor, who interacted closely with important men who helped her position herself within the social class that would later buy in their stores. Today it can also be stated that not only did she have a romantic relationship with a Nazi officer during the occupation of France, but instead worked for the German government as a spy. His pragmatism brought him a lot of fame and money and the world quickly forgot his collaboration with Nazism.
Polina Zhemchúzhina is a very different case. Born into a very poor Jewish family, her efforts led her step by step to top positions in Soviet state companies. One of them was the largest Soviet cosmetics and perfumery conglomerate called TeZhe. But the trembling Stalinist politician ended his career. First, demoting her to positions below her capacity and then, confining her in a labor camp for 5 years. Those who collaborated with her remember her as an efficient and responsible executive, who kept the industry alive and thriving during the time she commanded it.
Although at first the revolution tried to abolish those symbols of bourgeois privilege that were dresses and perfumes, the people’s desire prevailed. As Schlögel rightly points out, later other aromas invaded the world. The smell of death in all its forms. That of hunger, overcrowding and poverty.
Then, perfumes became more necessary than ever, at least to remember that humanity could create and live better realities.
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