Right after Boy Capel's death it is said she was visited by a person (hindu) carrying a message for her but also an important secret. As al Chanel's stories it can be true or it can be a pure invention. If it was true, was something related to numbers, and their mysticism? Hard to know, but it could make a good story for a movie.
First, Chanel was born on 19 august 1883. Here we have some "numbers":)
1+9+8+1+8+8+3 = 38
3+8=11
1+1=2
By this easy calculation we see that 2 was Chanel's personal number.
Day + Month = 19+8=27
Day - Month = 19-8=11
Those simple numbers, obtained from her birthday we will see them again in her life, the most important moments:
1+8+8+3 = 20 (1920 - Dimitri & creation of perfume company)
1+9+8+1+8+8+3 = 38 (she was 38 in 1921 when she offered perfume as a gift to her clients)
19+20 = 39 (1939 - the fashion house is closed)
27 + 27 = 54 (1954 - reopens the fashion house, second Chanel era)
But let's go to the perfumes. Besides No5 (which in a number theory could be related to alchemy and quintessence) we have other numbers: 2, 11, 14, 20, 21, 27, 55, 7.
No 2 = Coco's personal number
No 11 = It can be a lot of things. 19-8 (day-month), or 3+8 (she was 38 in 1921), or 22 divided by 2, and also Dimitri was 11 years younger.
No 22 = 11 * 2 or simply 2 2 (twice the personal number as twice C, the logo)
No 55 = 11 * 5 or simply 5 5
No 7 = 2 + 5
No 14 = 2 * 7
No 27= it can be the personal perfume 22 + number 5 or day + month (19 + 8) or that Dimitri had 27 years in 1921
No 20 = 1+8+8+3 (and of course the year when all started)
No 21 = 19 + 2
It would be interesting to know Coco's bank accounts in that year. I wouldn't b surprised to find something within them. Maybe their sum was 5?
We can do a lot of speculations around those numbers and it can be very funny as it was for Coco when she choose them. It was quite new to have number perfumes and I think a lot of people were shocked at that time. Were they supposed to carry a message with them (a secret message or code), or just to puzzle the clients?
In any case it would be a challenge to Chanel to release a perfume coffret with the 11 fragrances and the final answer - No 5, as it was in the early 20's. At least, I think that all the women (and men) in the world that made it number one in sales deserve more than the eternal Marylin Monroe story. And I mean by more - a piece of truth and history! I heard that a book on Ernest Beaux is to pe printed in France. Can't wait to read it (and check it).
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
